1 



rs ancP 



46 MIGRATING ANTS. [chap. 



plains of La Plata. Do the very numerous spiders 

 rapacious Hymenoptera supply the place of the carnivorous 

 beetles? The carrion-feeders and Brachelytra are very 

 uncommon ; on the other hand, the Rhyncophora and 

 Chrysomelidce all of which depend on the vegetable world 

 for subsistence, are present in astonishing numbers. I do 

 not here refer to the number of different species, but to that 

 of the individual insects ; for on this it is that the most 

 striking character in the entomology of different countries 

 depends. The orders Orthoptera and Hemiptera are 

 particularly numerous : as likewise is the stinging divisior. 

 of the Hymenoptera; the bees, perhaps, being excepted. A 

 person, on first entering a tropical forest, is astonished at 

 the labours of the ants : well-beaten paths branch off in 

 every direction, on which an army of never-failing foragers 

 may be seen, some going forth, and others returning, 

 burdened with pieces of green leaf, often larger than their 

 own bodies. ^^ 



A small, dark-coloured ant sometimes migrates in countleaH 

 numbers. One day, at Bahia, my attention was drawn t^H 

 observing many spiders, cockroaches, and other insects, 

 and some lizards, rushing in the greatest agitation across 

 a bare piece of ground. A little way behind, every stalk 

 and leaf was blackened by a small ant. The swarm having 

 crossed the bare space, divided itself, and descended an old 

 wall. By this means many insects were fairly enclosed ; 

 and the efforts which the poor little creatures made to 

 extricate themselves from such a death were wonderful. 

 When the ants came to the road they changed their course, 

 and in narrow files reascended the wall. Having placed 

 a small stone so as to intercept one of the lines, the whole 

 body attacked it, and then immediately retired. Shortly 

 afterwards another body came to the charge, and again 

 having failed to make any impression, this line of march 

 was entirely given up. By going an inch round, the file 

 might have avoided the stone, and this doubtless would 

 have happened if it had been originally there ; but having 

 been attacked, the lion-hearted little warriors scorned the 

 idea of yielding. 



Certain wasp-like insects, which construct in the corners 

 of the verandahs clay cells for their larvae, are very numerous 

 in the neighbourhood of Rio. These cells they stuff full 

 of half-dead spiders and caterpillars, which they seem 

 wonderfully to know how to sting to that degree as to 



