2 Stopes & Hewitt, Toit-lmildhig Habits of the Ant. 



connect the same with the underground nests of tlie ants 

 can be seen best from the figure. This shows the stump 

 of a stem i^A) of the Ilex which had been cut down, and in 

 consequence was provided with several leaf}- shoots near 

 the ground. B is the base of the adjacent uncut stem, 

 about 30ft. high, which had no leafy shoots near the 

 ground, nor did it show any traces of ant habitation. 



The tents were of the detritus type. In their con- 

 struction the ants had used the sand from the soil in the 

 neighbourhood, which was of a blackish colour ; mixed 

 with it were numerous white fragments of broken shell. 

 Very little cementing material appeared to have been 

 employed, since in the dry condition the tents were broken 

 by the slightest pressure. 



The form of a complete tent can be seen at e in the 

 figure. It will be observed that the whole twig and its 

 leaves, with the exceptions of the ends of the leaves, are 

 enclosed in the detritus tent. The whole, therefore, forms 

 a cylindrical, sausage-shaped mass, from which the tips or 

 unrolled edges of a {q\\ of the leaves (//.) project, but most 

 of the leaves are completely enclosed in the sand)' cover- 

 ing, through which run galleries which were found to be 

 swarming with ants. 



The tents communicate with the subterranean nests 

 by means of covered galleries {g.g) which were built of 

 detritus and wound round the tree trunk in a curved 

 manner. By means of these galleries the ants travel from 

 the ground to the interior of the tents where the aphides 

 are housed. 



At the tips of the enclosed branches the young leaves 

 (^.) can be seen projecting as the}' have recent!}' been 

 unfolded from the bud. The ants soon turn their attentions 

 to these new leaves, which are treated like the rest in a 

 peculiar manner. They appear to bite the lower side of 



