iv SOCIAL HOMES 133 



This ant prefers a nest-site with southern 

 aspect. 



The Saiiba or Coushie ant (CEcodoma cepJialotes), 

 peculiar to tropical America, is a mason that exceeds 

 the European species in the magnitude of its labours. 

 Its nests, found in plantations and woods, consist of 

 dome-like edifices elevated over underground earth- 

 works (see Fig. 16). The domes differ in colour from 

 that of the surrounding superficial soil, owing to being 

 formed of earth brought up from a considerable depth. 

 Frequently no less than forty feet in diameter, with a 



FIG. 20. Gravel cone nest of Honey Ant built partly round a tuft of gramma 

 grass ; from McCook. 



height of two feet, measurements simply gigantic 

 having regard to the builders, they dwarf into utter 

 insignificance the mightiest efforts of man, the relative 

 dimensions of the workers being considered. But 

 though the domes are immense, they arc as nothing 

 compared with the limits of the underground galleries, 

 which are often of almost incredible extent, and show 

 no trace of their presence, and suddenly the ants will 

 come to the surface where least expected. So vast 

 are the subterranean passages and so complicated, 



