Chap. XI. MUSHEOOM NESTS. 217 



mites is exceedingly soft. On examining the struc- 

 ture of the soldiers, it is evident that their powerful 

 pincer-jaws are made for wounding and piercing, 

 while the structure of the workers shows that their 

 pincers are made for the purposes of labour. Nothing 

 astonished me more than this impetuous attack ; my 

 attention was intense on this deadly combat ; the 

 weaker species knew the vulnerable point of his for- 

 midable enemy, who was too busy to protect himself. 

 A further examination showed me that the mush- 

 room-like cap of the whole edifice was composed of 

 both black and yellow cells. This curious mixture 

 of two species, each building its own cells and yet 

 contributing to form an entire and symmetrical 

 edifice, filled me with astonishment. The wonder did 

 not cease here, for in some of the mushroom-like 

 heads there was still a third kind quite distinct from 

 the other two, and not a white ant. 



The mushroom nests are built very rapidly, but 

 when finished they last, in all probability, many 

 years. The ants work at them only at night, and 

 shut out all the apertures from the external air when 

 daylight comes, for the white ant abhors daylight ; 

 and when they migrate from an old building to 

 commence the erection of a new one, they come 

 from under the ground. Sometimes they add to 

 their structures by building one mushroom- head 

 above another ; I have seen as many as four, one on 

 the top of the other. The new structures are built 

 when the colony increases ; new cells must be found 

 for the new comers. The shelter is quite rain-proof. 



I passed hours in watching the tiny builders at 



