on Indian ants. 349 



observations of a similar character, I will relate the 

 details of a particularly desperate fight that took place 

 in the verandah of my bungalow in Barrackpore between 

 a worker-major (not a very big specimen) and a nest of 

 that pungently stinging ant, Solenopsis gemminatus. One 

 afternoon in May, 1880, at 4.30 p.m., I noticed a worker 

 of compressKS very busy skirmishing round a column of 

 the verandah, in which was a strong colony of Solenopsis ; 

 she contented herself for some time in cutting off and 

 snipping in two the stragglers from the nest, but by-and- 

 bye she became bolder, and came closer to the nest, 

 seizing and cutting away with the most systematic 

 determination ; by stooping down a little you could 

 distinctly hear the snip, snip of the mandibles as they 

 'severed heads and bodies of the apparently unoffending 

 gemminatus. This went on till 5.30, when compressus 

 commenced an attack on the main entrance to the nest 

 itself; and now the fight became more general. After 

 a rapid dash at the entrance compressus would retreat, 

 covered with these little red ants ; some would be jerked 

 off, but the more pertinacious required individual 

 clearing, and I noticed compressus adopted a very clever 

 plan of freeing her legs from the enemy : say one or 

 more ants were holding on to her leg, she would then 

 encircle that limb with her mandibles above the hold of 

 the red ants, and then, instead of moving the jaws, 

 would draw the leg through, a process very like shredding 

 currants ; of course gemminatus would often get a hold 

 where this process could not be applied, but compressus 

 always managed to free herself at last, and then off to 

 the entrance again for a fresh attack. Twice while 

 watching, compressus, covered with red ants, rolled from 

 the base of the column to the steps below, but as soon 

 as she freed herself, up she mounted again and renewed 

 the fight. At 6 o'clock I went for the usual evening 

 drive, and left my friend hard at it. On my return at 8 

 the fight was still going on, although it was then dark, 

 and compressus was showing evident signs of exhaustion. 

 At 9.30 I went out again to see how matters stood, and 

 found compressus still alive, but covered with foes and 

 almost done to death. I picked her up, cleaned off the 

 red ants, brought her indoors, put her in a comfortable 

 open box, and prepared some syrup of sugar and sherry, 

 but on going to the box the next morning I was grieved 



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