282 HYMENOPTERA 



in the base of old termite hills : one such nest that I dug 

 out was perceptible to the nose from some yards away. 

 When the nest was broken open the ants and termites 

 running about of course met, and the termite invariably 

 seized hold of the ant. But the ant seemed to be too 

 hard for the termite to make any impression on it, and 

 if unable to free itself by struggling turned its abdomen 

 forwards and deliberately stung the termite, which at 

 once let go and seemed more or less paralysed. One ant 

 was tackled successively by two termites, and accounted 

 for each in turn, but it was never the aggressor, and 

 seemed reluctant to sting until other methods failed to 

 release it from the termite's grip. I have found a winged 

 male of this ant in the stomach of a Bee-eater. 



Another large black ant that is often confused with 

 Paltothyreus is Megaponera fmtens, though it is con- 

 siderably smaller, has no odour, and is of very different 

 habits. The name foetens should apply to Paltothyreus, 

 with which this ant, called " Enkolokoto " by the natives, 

 must have been confused when the name was given 

 to it. 



I mention this ant because it is absent from the islands, 

 nor have I met with it on the Uganda shores of the 

 lake. 



I first saw it when on active service on the southern 

 frontier of Uganda in 1914 (Kagera river), and subse- 

 quently became very familiar with it in German East 

 Africa. But the Kagera river, which forms the natural 

 boundary to Uganda, also seems to act as a barrier 

 to Megapo7iera in that part of the world, for though the 

 ant is often seen on the south side of the river, it was 

 apparently absent from the north side. I was informed 

 by a missionary, however, that he knew it well further 

 north in Uganda. 



Megaponera feeds on termites, and marches out in 

 orderly bands of a hundred or more, and when inter- 



