28 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



Insect Mushroom-Growers. 



After lying under a cloud for years, the reputation of Solomon as a veracious 

 chronicler was vindicated by the discovery in Europe, Asia, and America of 

 different species of ants that have been proved by careful observation to store 

 up grain in underground garners for future use. Following upon these revelations 

 — which were chiefly remarkable because the authorities had concurred in 

 denouncing the Wise King as a romancer — came the stupendous announcement 

 that certain species of ants not merely hoarded food which they found read}' to 

 their hands, but that by a somewhat complicated series of actions they took steps 



to grow their food under 

 artificial conditions in their 

 own homes. When Thomas 

 Belt published his state- 

 ment to this effect, based 

 upon his investigations 

 into the habits of the 

 parasol, coushie, or saiiba 

 ant 1 in Nicaragua, it was 

 received with a smile of 

 %^^-1-i^-^^ifc^ yi I^ '^r4 lb ^iJi^d' '^ Lf 3 incredulity. Belt was not 

 ^.n .'^.r\. > Vir^r ^r J"' *l an officii naturalist; he 



was in Nicaragua as a 

 mining engineer, but he 

 was a very cute and 

 painstaking observer, 

 and the professional 

 naturalists, who after- 

 wards went to verify or 

 explode his conclusions, 

 did more than sub- 

 stantiate his wondrous story : they added details which increased the wonder. 

 These ants are also known as leaf-cutters from their reprehensible practice of 

 making the lot of the coffee and orange planter a hard one by stripping his 

 trees of their leaves in preference to taking the wild growths of the forest. In 

 some districts the}' even make human cultivation impossible. Bates, who gave 

 an account of the operations of these leaf-cutting ants in Brazil, says they mount 

 the tree in multitudes, the individuals engaged in this work being all workeis- 

 minor. " Each one places itself on the surface of a leaf, and cuts with its sharp, 

 scissor-like jaws a nearly semi-circular incision on the upper side ; it then takes 

 the edge between its jaws, and by a sharp jerk detaches the piece. Sometimes 

 they let the leaf drop to the ground, where a little heap accumulates, until carried 



1 Atta cephalotes. 



Fungus Chambers in Termites' Nest. 



The termites (" white ants ") are also among the cultivators of mushrooms. The drawing 

 represents a spongy mass of part of the nest, hollowed and excavated into chambers and 

 passages, from which minute white mushrooms grow in abundance. 



