Cuap. XII, ANT-ARMIES. 359 
doubling in its tail, and stinging with all its might. There is no course 
left but to run for it ; if he is accompanied by natives, they will be sure 
to give the alarm, crying, “‘Taudca!” and scampering at full speed to 
the other end of the column of ants. The tenacious insects who have 
secured themselves to his legs then have to be plucked off one by one, a 
task which is generally not accomplished without pulling them in twain, 
and leaving heads and jaws sticking in the wounds. 
The errand of the vast ant-armies is plunder, as in the case of Eciton 
legionis ; but from their moving always amongst dense thickets, their 
proceedings are not so easy to observe as in that species. Wherever 
they move, the whole animal world is set in commotion, and every 
creature tries to get out of their way. But it is especially the various 
tribes of wingless insects that have cause for fear, such as heavy-bodied 
spiders, ants of other species, maggots, caterpillars, larvae of cockroaches, 
and so forth, all of which live under fallen leaves, or in decaying wood. 
The Ecitons do not mount very high on trees, and therefore the nest- 
lings of birds are not much incommoded by them. The mode of 
operation of these armies, which I ascertained only after long-continued 
observation, is as follows. The main column, from four to six deep, 
moves forward in a given direction, clearing the ground of all animal 
matter, dead or alive, and throwing off here and there a thinner column 
to forage for a short time on the flanks of the main army, and re-enter 
it again after their task is accomplished. If some very rich place be 
encountered anywhere near the line of march, for example, a mass of 
rotten wood abounding in insect larve, a delay takes place, and a very 
strong force of ants is concentrated upon it. The excited creatures 
search every cranny, and tear in pieces all the large grubs they drag to 
light. It is curious to see them attack wasps’ nests, which are some- 
times built on low shrubs. They gnaw away the papery covering to 
get at the larvee, pupz, and newly-hatched wasps, and cut everything to 
tatters, regardless of the infuriated owners which are flying about them. 
In bearing off their spoil in fragments, the pieces are apportioned to the 
carriers with some degree of regard to fairness of load, the dwarfs taking 
the smallest pieces, and the strongest fellows with small heads the 
heaviest portions. Sometimes two ants join together in carrying one 
piece, but the worker-majors, with their unwieldy and distorted jaws, 
are incapacitated from taking any part in the labour. The armies never 
march far on a beaten path, but seem to prefer the entangled thickets, 
where it is seldom possible to follow them. I have traced an army 
sometimes for half a mile or more, but was never able to find one that 
had finished its day’s course and returned to its hive. Indeed, I never 
met with a hive; whenever the Ecitons were seen they were always on 
the march. 
I thought one day, at Villa Nova, that I had come upon a migratory 
horde of this indefatigable ant. The place was a tract of open ground 
near the river side, just outside the edge of the forest, and surrounded 
by rocks and shrubbery. A dense column of Ecitons was seen extend- 
ing from the rocks on one side of the little haven, traversing the open 
space, and ascending the opposite declivity. The length of the pro- 
cession was from sixty to seventy yards, and yet neither van nor rea- 
