HYMENOPTERA. 149 



Eciton curvidentata, Smith, Trans. Ent. Soc. Lond. hi. new ser. 



162. 3. 

 Rah. Brazil ( Para) ; Cayenne. 



Latreille's species are united on the authority of Mr. II . W. 

 Bates, who says, " I have observed its legions in processions of 

 great extent, but up to the present time I have been unable to 

 meet with the other sexes ; their societies are so numerous and 

 the sting of the insects so severe, that an attack on one of their 

 colonies is not to be rashly undertaken." 



2. ECITON DREPANOPHORUM. B.M. 



Worker major. Length 4-4 \ lines. Reddish-yellow, with the 

 head pale testaceous yellow, smooth and shining ; very closely 

 resembling E. hamata, but with the scape of the antennae ferru- 

 ginous : in hamata the antennae are entirely black ; the head 

 more narrowed behind, the eyes black, and differing also in having 

 the second node of the abdomen narrower ; the mandibles in both 

 species elongate, curved and sickle-shaped. 



Worker minor. Length 4-4 J- lines. Distinguished from the 

 worker of hamata by having the scape ferruginous, the mandibles 

 distinctly denticulated on their inner margin ; the second node of 

 the petiole more narrow and elongate. 

 Hab. Brazil (Ega). 



The distinction of this species from hamata rests entirely on a 

 comparison of specimens. Mr. Bates has furnished the following 

 particulars : " This Eciton is the common species at Ega, its 

 columns of foragers being seen very often, butnotdaily, in different 

 parts of the forest ; it is very nearly allied to a species ticketed 

 42 (hamata), but it differs in always having the basal joint of the 

 antenna? pale : in 42 it is always concolorous. The large-headed 

 individuals are always extremely similar one to another, none 

 occurring intermediate in size between them and the small ones. 

 I am quite convinced these large-headed ones are a distinct order 

 of individuals in a colony of Ecitons, and fulfil some distinct, 

 peculiar functions ; what those functions are I cannot decide at 

 present ; I once saw something of their relations to the rest of the 

 colony in a very large and extraordinary procession. On a clayey 

 piece of ground near the beach, just outside the margins of the 

 forest where the place formed a snug little haven surrounded by 

 high rocks and shrubbery, a dense column of Ecitons descended 

 from amongst the rocks on one side of the harbour, traversing 

 the beach and climbing again the opposite side ; the length 

 of the column visible was from 60 to 70 yards, and yet there 

 was no appearance of either the van or the rear of the army ; 

 they were all moving in the same direction except a few indivi- 



