Liberia <^ 



ant-hills of red clay supposed to be made by the warlike termites 

 — Termes hellicosus. 



In the forest region a commoner type of termite is 'Vermes 

 mordaXj which builds extraordinary mushroom-like dwellings 

 out of a grey or bluish clay, probably derived from decayed 

 vegetation. These grey ant-hills are exact imitations of a mush- 

 room, with a cylindrical stem very loosely attached to the 

 ground and a bulbous cap. When the hill has been in use 

 some little time a new cap is added on top of the old one, so 

 that at last a hill that has endured for years may be composed 

 of four or five mushroom-like caps rising in tiers. 



In the months of November and December the perfected 

 male and female termites leave the hill and take to flight with 

 their flimsy wings, rising sometimes in great clouds that quite 

 darken the sky. After a few hours' flight, the one endeavour 

 of the males, and perhaps of the females also, is to get rid 

 of the wings. This of course they do by preference in a plate 

 of soup, because it is the mission of all insects in tropical 

 climates to make themselves odious to man in any way that 

 occurs to them. It is no uncommon sight on a Liberian dinner- 

 table to see the winged ants running round and round, trying 

 to unship their wings at the joints by prising them ofi-' with 

 their hind legs. One or more of the fertilised females find 

 their way back to the nest in a wingless condition. They are 

 then built into a large cell with many small openings through 

 which food is introduced, and the eggs as laid are taken away. 

 The lofty and large ant-hills of Termes hellicosus are the homes 

 of many other creatures besides white ants. They harbour 

 snakes, small and middle-sized, the blind Amphisbcsna lizard and 

 equally blind limbless amphibians [Geotrypetes) ; also large 

 earthworms and beetles. 



Butterflies are not nearly such striking objects in the 



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