12 



than that of the weevils, ])ut the ants are such long-lived insects that 

 th ^ may be expected to overtake the weevils under favorable con- 

 ditions. An ant queen has been known to live for fifteen years and a 

 worker for six years. 



The fact that the ants attack, paral3^ze, and destroy the weevils has 

 been assumed frequently to mean that a battle takes place between the 

 insects, and pictures of such imaginary encounters have appeared in 

 the newspapers. As a matter of fact, however, the weevil has no 

 means of defense except its armor and is quite at the merc}^ of any 

 ant strong and skillful enough to sting it. Even this stinging is not 

 alwa3^s necessary, some weevils being carried into the nest without 

 being stung, and perhaps while still feigning death to avoid discover}^ 

 The ants are strong enough to pull the weevils in pieces, but the pre- 

 liminary sting facilitates matters b}^ preventing any further efforts nt 

 escape. It is a well-known fact that insects and spiders which have 

 been stung and paralj^zed b}^ predaceous wasps as food for their 3^oung 

 will keep for considerable periods. The ants ma}^ utilize this means 

 of storing food when there is an overabundance; a colony fed for the 

 last three days exclusivelv on weevils kills more than it consumes, and 

 piles up the victims. 



The fact that the ant uses its sting in capturing its prey has led 

 some to confuse it with the stinging ants which are serious pests in 

 somiC tropical countries. Some of these inflict painful injuries and are 

 nuich feared. There is, for example, an ant which makes nests among 

 the leaves of the coffee trees in Liberia, rendering it quite impracticable 

 to gather the crop until the insects are dislodged by fire. The kelep 

 does not belong, however, to any such categor3\ It is a predaceous 

 or hunting ant which very seldom stings except to parah^ze its prey 

 and thus render the game easier to capture and carry off'; but at other 

 times it has no inclination to sting and does so onl3^ when actually 

 seized cr injured. The sting, however, is too small and weak to pene- 

 trate the skin of the inside of the hand, so that the insects can be picked 

 up with entire impunit3\ If accidentall3^ squeezed between the fingers 

 or caught under one's collar, a kelep ma3^ be able to sting, bat the 

 wound smarts, in most people, for only a few minutes, and is on the 

 whole a less formidable injur3^ than a mosquito bite, since the irritation 

 is less prolonged. 



It should be a sufficient testimon3^ to the peaceable temper of the 

 ants to state that in opening about 100 nests and collecting some 4,000 

 ants Mr. Doyle and I were stung only about half a dozen times, and 

 that with no care or precautions. A majority of the ants were picked 

 up with the bare hands while the disturbed insects crawled at liberty 

 over us. Under such circumstances a stinging ant would attempt 

 to wound any foreign ol)ject which came in its wa3% but the keleps 

 have apparently no tendency to defend their nest in this manner. 



