IV 



SOCIAL HOMES 



141 



ingress and egress to and from their home when 

 pursuing their daily tasks, obviating the toil unavoid- 

 able had the way been obstructed by plants. Vege- 

 tation in the immediate vicinity of the nest is likewise 

 highly dangerous, in that it affords concealment to 

 enemies at close quarters. It may be also that plants, 

 seeing that they harbour damp, would be injurious to 



FIG 23. Pseudomyrma bicolor inhabiting Acacia comigera. 



the young ; and the roots might penetrate to the 

 interior of the home and cause damage and incon- 

 venience. The well-established and ordered roads 

 between the formicary and the harvest-grounds, so 

 characteristic a feature of the Texas communities, are 

 absent, a fact that perhaps reflects to the credit of the 

 ants in question. For while the vegetation surround- 



