Photo by the Author 

 MALE AND WORKERS OE A SOUTH AFRICAN DRIVER ANT {Dorylus Umlviatus) 



The male is a very large, hairy insect with large eyes ; the workers are small and blind, 

 but vary greatly in size. 



The driver ants (Dorylii) in the tropics of the Old World and the allied legionary ants 

 (Ecitonii) in the corresponding regions of America do not confine themselves to collecting 

 dead or disabled insects. They move in long files over or immediately beneath the surface 

 of the ground and capture myriads of living insects and their larvae. So efficient are they 

 in exterminating all kinds of vermin, including rats and mice, that they are welcomed into 

 the houses, even if their owners are obliged to vacate for the time being. 



In some countries the ants are regarded as useful allies in destroying the insect pests 

 of plantations. According to Magowan, quoted by McCook (1882) : "In many parts of the 

 province of Canton, where, says a Chinese writer, cereals cannot be profitably cultivated, 

 the land is devoted to the cultivation of orange trees, which, being subject to devastation 

 from worms, require to be protected in a peculiar manner, that is, by importing ants from 

 the neighboring hills for the destruction of the dreaded parasite. The orangeries themselves 

 supply ants which prey upon the enemy of the orange, but not in sufficient numbers ; and 

 resort is had to hill people, who, throughout the summer and winter, find the nests sus- 

 pended from branches of bamboo and various trees. There are two varieties of ants, red 

 and yellow, whose nests resemble cotton bags. 



"The orange-ant feeders are provided with pig or goat bladders, which are baited inside 

 with lard. The orifices they apply to the entrance of the nests, when the ants enter the bag 

 and become a marketable commodity at the orangeries. Orange trees are colonized by de- 

 positing the ants on their upper branches, and to enable them to pass from tree to tree, all 

 the trees of an orchard are connected bv a bamboo rod." 



An interesting side-light is thrown on 

 the various nutritive, reproductive, and 

 protective devices in ants by the behavior 

 of the insects that Hve as guests or para- 

 sites in their nests. Of these insects, 

 called myrmecophiles, some 1.500 species 

 have been described, a wonderful assem- 

 blage of creatures whose sole aim in life 

 is to exploit the ants. They stay in the 

 nests because these afford warmth, food, 

 and protection. Some myrmecophiles 

 feed on the larvae and pupse, or even on 

 the adult ants, and some, known as true 

 guests or symphiles, have developed 

 glands that emit a redolent secretion 

 which seems to fascinate the ants much 

 as a catnip fascinates cats. The more 

 highly developed of these true guests are 



fed and reared by the ants as if they 

 were ant larv?e. 



EVER READY HOSPITALITY 



The only explanation of such extraor- 

 dinary behavior towards parasites which 

 eventually injure or destroy the colonies 

 they infest must be sought in the inordi- 

 nate fondness of the ants for their own 

 brood and for one another. Observatioa 

 and experiment have shown that any in- 

 sect which, by means of its shape, odor,, 

 or behavior can delude the ants into feel- 

 ing that it may be another ant or one of 

 their larvae, can secure free board and 

 lodging in their nests (see picture, page 

 760). 



Having: discussed some of the more 



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