Chap. VI.] ANTS. 261 



tured by tlie wasp. I have watched them at the mter- 

 esting operation of forming their dwelhngs ; — a hne 

 of ants standing on the edge of one leaf bring another 

 into contact with it, and hold both together with 

 their mandibles till their companions within attach 

 them firmly by means of their adliesive paper, the 

 assistants outside moving along as the work proceeds. 

 If it be necessary to draw closer a leaf too distant to 

 be laid hold of by the immediate workers, they form a 

 chain by depending one from the other till the object is 

 reached, when it is at length brought into contact, and 

 made fast by cement. 



Like all their race, these ants are in perpetual 

 motion, forming hues on the ground along wliicli they 

 pass, in continual procession to and from the trees on 

 which they reside. They are the most irritable of the 

 whole order in Ceylon, biting with such intense ferocity as 

 to render it difficult for the unclad natives to collect the 

 fruit from the mango trees, which the red ants espe- 

 cially frequent. They drop from the branches upon 

 travellers in the jungle, attacking them with venom and 

 fury, and inflicting intolerable pain both upon animals and 

 man. On examining the structure of the head through a 

 microscope, I found that the mandibles, instead of merely 

 meeting in contact, are so hooked as to cross each other 

 at the points, whilst the inner line is sharply serrated 

 throughout its entire length ; thus occasioning the intense 

 pain of theu^ bite, as compared with that of the ordinary 

 ant. 



To check the ravages of the coffee bug (Lecanium 

 coffece. Walker), which for some years past has devastated 

 some of the plantations m Ceylon, the experiment was 

 made of introducing the red ants, who feed greedily on 

 the Coccus. But the remedy threatened to be attended 

 with some inconvenience, for the Malabar Coohes, with 

 bare and oiled skins, were so frequently and fiercely 

 assaulted by the ants as to endanger their stay on the 

 estates. 



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