RED ANTS. 



2.36 



Topical land would furnish study for years to a zealous 

 entomologist. Every family of plants has its peculiar species, 



nd many trees are even the exclusive dwelling-place of some 

 ant nowhere else to be found. In the scathes of leaves, in the 

 corollas of flowers, in buds and blossoms, over and under the 

 earth, in and out of doors, one meets these ubiquitous little 

 creatures, which are undoubtedly one of the great plagues of the 

 torrid zone. 



While our indigenous ants cause a disagreeable burning on 



he skin, by the secretion of a corrosive acid peculiar to the 



ace, the sting or bite of many tropical species causes the most 

 excruciating tortures. ' I have no words,' says Schomburgk, 

 ' to describe the pain inflicted upon me by the mandibles of the 

 Ponera clavata, a large, and, fortunately, not very common ant, 

 whose long black body is beset with single hairs. Like an 

 electric shock the pain instantly shot through my whole body, 

 and soon after acquired the greatest intensity in the breast, and 

 over and under the armpits. After a few minutes I felt almost 

 completely paralysed, so that I could only with the greatest 

 difficulty, and under the most excruciating tortures, totter 

 towards the plantation, which, however, it was impossible for 

 me to reach. I was found senseless on the ground, and the 

 following day a violent wound fever ensued.' 



' Having, while in Angola, accidentally stepped upon a nest 

 of red ants,' says Livingstone, ' not an instant seemed to elapse 

 before a simultaneous attack was made on various unprotected 

 parts, up the trousers from below, and on my neck and breast 

 above. The bites of these furies were like sparks of fire, and 

 there was no retreat. I jumped about for a second or two, 

 then in desperation tore off all my clothing, and rubbed and 

 picked them off seriatim as quickly as possible ! , Fortunately, 

 no one observed this rencontre, or word might have been taken 

 back to the village that I had become mad. It is really; 

 astonishing how such small bodies can contain so large an 

 amount of ill nature. They not only bite, but twist themselves 

 round after the mandibles are inserted, to produce laceration 

 and pain more than would be effected by the single woimd. 

 Frequently, while sitting on the ox, as he happened to tread 

 near a band, they would rush up his legs to the rider, and soon 



