528 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



gencies, which show that they have sufficient reasoning 

 powers to meet the exigencies of their life ; their ordinary 

 acts being instinctive namely, the results of inherited 

 habits. The leaf-cutter ants of Central and South Amer- 

 ica are famous from their leaf-cutting habits ; the soldiers 

 have large triangular heads, while the workers have 

 much smaller rounded heads." What is said in this brief 

 quotation is the merest hint with respect to ant history. 



In some countries differ- 

 ent species of ants sys- 

 tematically declare and go 

 to war with each other. 

 They organize armies down 

 to the minutest detail ; 

 drill ; march in column ; de- 

 " ploy ; use scouts ; arrange 

 and sustain a medical 

 corps ; attend to their 

 wounded carrying them 

 off the field when disabled 

 and so on. In some parts 

 of Africa most remarkable 

 species of ants occur, some 

 of the species being so 

 numerous and bite so se- 

 verely that our own spe- 

 cies are in peril when in- 

 vading their territories. 



In Figure 7 the writer 

 gives you the reproduction 

 of a photograph he made 

 of an enormous ants' nest 

 found by him near Cherry- 

 dale in northern Virginia. 

 It covered a circle some 

 fourteen feet in diameter, 

 and, frorri apex to base in 

 the center, had a height of 

 four feet or rather more. 

 Ants erected this entire 

 mound, and many thou- 

 sands of the large black 

 species of that region oc- 

 cupied it at the time of its 

 discovery. It was per- 

 meated by passage-ways in 

 thousands of directions, 

 and yet there was no evi- 

 dence of confusion among 

 the inhabitants when any disturbance aroused them, as 

 stepping upon or pushing a stick into the heap. They ral- 

 lied to the spot en masse and at once swarmed over the 

 offending intruder or whatever was used to stir them 

 up. Their bite is quite severe, and they will allow the 

 twisting off of their heads before letting go their hold. 



Hundreds of recorded experiments have proved beyond 

 all manner of doubt that some species of ants possess 

 excellent memories; they recognize their kin and greet 



FIG. 8. KALUMA BUTTERFLY OF THE EAST INDIES 



One of the most perfect examples of protective mimicry 

 among insects known to science. The insect is of a rich 

 orange, blue and purple with finer markings. It is shown 

 both open in flight and also closed on the twig. 



friends and relatives by "shaking hands" with their 

 antennae. They possess a fine sense of direction and 

 orientation. 



While living in Habana, Cuba, the writer enjoyed 

 studying a very minute red ant no bigger than the point 

 of a pin. They invariably put in an appearance at break- 

 fast time, usually coming from some crack in the cement 

 wall of the room near the floor. They marched, single file, 



skirting all impedimenta, to 

 the breakfast table. Ar- 

 riving at the nearest leg of 

 the latter in the line of their 

 march, they ascended it, 

 still in single file, and reach- 

 ing the underside of the 

 table cloth, they passed 

 over it; and when once on 

 top, over they went to the 

 sugar-bowl to feed. Thy 

 swarmed over the sugar en 

 masse, and, after gorging 

 themselves, returned to 

 their retreat in the same 

 order in which they came. 

 This happened every morn- 

 ing until we finally broke 

 it up by placing the feet 

 of the table in small pans 

 of water. They could not 

 swim ! But to appreciate 

 the \jLtraordinary history 

 of ants, especially the 

 South American and Afri- 

 can species, one should 

 study them in their 

 habitats as well as read 

 about them. 



There is no more inter- 

 esting chapter in the history 

 of insects than the one 

 which touches upon their 

 protective mimicry and 

 coloration. Much, too, has 

 been published and illus- 

 trated on this fruitful sub- 

 ject, even entire books have 

 been devoted to it, an ex- 

 cellent one in mind being 

 "Animal Coloration," by 

 Dr. Frank E. Beddard, F. R. S., Prosector of the Zoolog- 

 ical Society of London. Plate II of that work presents 

 a colored representation of the famous Kallima butter- 

 fly. 



Nearly every family of insects and spiders offers us 

 examples of protective coloration and mimicry, while 

 only a comparatively few of them have been properly 

 described ; it is an inviting field for the young descriptive 

 naturalist. 



