( lix ) 



that they were joined by one or two apparent stragglers, but 

 whether these were advance scouts, or stragglers from a 

 previous raid, I cannot surmise. No particular ant seemed 

 to be leader, but there was an extraordinary atmosphere 

 of purpose about their march. Once or twice they would 

 hesitate, and the leaders would scatter, soon to reunite and 

 continue the march. This is in marked contrast with the 

 somewhat frenzied bustle of the Drivers, some of which keep 

 running backwards, or break away from the main body in 

 search of any prey that offers, and the main stream frequently 

 divides into several tributaries. I saw an old termitarium 

 some yards away, and thought they might make for it, but 

 to my great disappointment they suddenly turned aside, 

 crossed the path and entered the bush where it would have 

 been impossible to follow them even if it had not been getting 

 dark. 



" Early next morning, as I had to return to Ibadan to go 

 on leave, I had to break rudely into the nest. I got a native 

 labourer to dig into it, and he had a fairly lively time. I 

 could not quite make out whether they stung in addition to 

 biting, but I rather think they did. I had not the courage 

 to make the experiment on myself after seeing my labourer 

 dancing round with one on the hard palm of his hand, which 

 he was endeavouring to pick ofE. Owing to the loose nature 

 of the earth it was impossible to find whether the nest had 

 any particular structure. I found the cocoons roughly 

 massed together, and secured a few. The ants made great 

 efforts to rescue these, all the while hissing loudly. I saw 

 one or two winged forms in the nest, one of which I managed 

 to get but somehow missed it among those I brought home. 

 It appeared to be smaller than the others, which are very 

 uniform in size. I could not distinguish between soldiers 

 and workers. The cocoon is dark in colour, almost black, 

 which distinguishes it from the lighter brown-coloured Palto- 

 thyreus cocoon. 



" They are probably confined to the forest districts, where 

 there is plenty of moisture. The latter is certainly true of 

 Paltothyreus, very few of these being found here, up country, 

 except by the river side." 



