74 STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



I HAVE felt considerable doubt whether the Sauba, or 

 CousHiE Ant (CEcodoma cephalotes)^ ought to be reckoned 

 among the burrowers or the builders, inasmuch as it makes 

 large excavations below the ground, and raises dome-like 

 edifices on its surface. As, however, the burrows are very 

 much larger than the buildings, I shall place it with the former 

 class, reserving for the corresponding example of the building- 

 insects the Termites, whose edifices are more important than 

 their burrows. It must first be mentioned that, although this 

 species has often been described as the Visiting Ant, it is in 

 reality a distinct species, as will be seen in the course of a few 

 pages. 



The Saiiba Ant is restricted to tropical America, where it 

 exists in such vast profusion, that it oftentimes takes forcible 

 possession of the land, and drives out the human inhabitants 

 who have cultivated and planted it. Broad columns of these 

 ants may be seen marching along, each individual carrying in 

 its jaws a circular piece of leaf, about the size of a sixpence, 

 which is held vertically by one of its edges. In the British 

 Museum there is a specimen of a Saiiba Ant, with the leaf still 

 grasped in its jaws, the ruling passion strong in death. From 

 this curious habit the creature is sometimes called the Parasol 

 Ant, and many persons have thought that the leaves are carried 

 in order to protect the insect against the hot sunbeams. The 

 zeal reason, however, has been discovered by Mr. H. W. Bates, 

 who has studied with great care the habits of this remarkable 

 insect, and has disentangled its history from many doubts and 

 difficulties. 



There are, as is usual with all ants, three distinct ranks 

 — namely, the winged, the large-headed, or soldiers, as they 

 are popularly called, and the ordinary workers. The large- 

 headed individuals are sub-divided into two classes, namely, 

 the smooth-heads and rough-heads, the former wearing a 

 polished, homy, translucent helmet, and the head of the latter 

 being opaque and covered with hair. The large-headed ants 

 do no ostensible work, all the labour falling to the lot of the 

 «vorkers. These creatures make raids upon the trees, always 



