Ants and Termites. 



CHAPTEE XXV. 



ANTS AND TERMITES. 



Vast numbers of Ants in the Tropical Zone — Excruciating pain caused by the 

 Sting of the Ponera Clavata — The Black Fire-Ant of Guiana. — The Dimiya of 

 Ceylon — The Kaddiya — The Eed Ant of Angola — Devastations of the 

 Viviagua in the West Indian Coffee Plantations — The Atta Cephalotes, or the 

 Umbrella Ant — Household Plagues — Difficulty of preserving Sugar from their 

 attacks — The Ranger Ants — Wonderful construction of Tropical Ants — Slave- 

 making Ants — Cow-keeping Ants — The Mexican Honey Ant — Devastation 

 of the Termites — Their Services and Uses — Their marvellous Buildings — 

 Formation of a Termite Colony — Amazing Fecundity of the Termite Queen — 

 Consequence of an Attack upon a Termite HiU — Wars between Termites and 

 Black Ants — American Termites — Termites esteemed as a Delicacy — March- 

 ing White Ants — Mysteries of Termite Life. 



rPHE family of Ants is undoubtedly the most numerous 

 X. of any in the whole circle of winged insects, as its colonies 

 are not confined to one particular region, but are thickly planted 

 over the greatest part of the habitable world. There is scarcely 

 a field in Britain that does not contain millions ; we cannot 

 rest upon a bank without reclining upon the walls of their 

 cities; their chief quarters, however, are established in the 

 torrid zone, where they may truly be said to hold a despotic 

 sway over the forest and the savanna, over the thicket and the 

 field. It is hardly possible to penetrate into a tropical wood 



