478 J. C. BRANNER — GEOLOGIC WORK OF ANTS 



The existence of an animal as big as an ordinary dog, over 2 feet high 

 at the shoulder, with its long, slender muzzle, its powerful forelegs and 

 claws adapted to the excavation and exploration of ant-mounds, and its 

 tongue nearly a yard in length, and living chiefly, if not entirely, upon 

 white ants, is an important witness on the side of the abundance of 

 termites in the region in which it lives. Bates reports four species of 

 ant-eaters in the Amazonas region, two of which are large and two small 

 ones (op. cit., 2d ed., p. 110), while Wallace says there are five species in 

 tropical America, besides one extinct form.*^ 



The armadillos, known in Brazil as tatus, are also ant-eaters. As Mr. 

 Wallace points out,** the armadillos are highly characteristic of tropical 

 South and Central America, and at the time of the publication of his 

 famous work on the geographical distribution of animals they embraced 

 6 genera and 17 species, to say nothing of many extinct species found by 

 Lund in the caves of Minas Geraes. Some of these armadillos are so 

 large that a single individual will weigh as much as Vo pounds, or even 

 more. 



They live upon insects chiefly, and the white ants seem to be their 

 favorite food. They enter the nests by digging openings at the base of 

 the cones with their powerful fore feet.*^ 



Gardner states that the white ants also form the principal food of the 

 South American ostrich (Rhea americana), which is the largest bird in 

 tropical America.*^ 



In addition, there are large numbers of birds and reptiles, such as 

 toads, frogs, lizards, and snakes, that habitually feed upon these insects. 



Azara says that almost all kinds of birds except the "milano" feed on 

 them.*^ 



The true ants are enemies of the white ants worthy of especial men- 

 tion. The abundance of the ants and their pugnacious dispositions 

 make them serious obstacles to the development of the termites' colonies, 

 and they are probably their worst natural enemies. The termites have 

 in their colonies forms that are known among biologists as soldiers, but 

 so far as I have been able to determine from personal observations these 

 soldiers do not attack the true ants, though they do take the place of sol- 



*3 A. R. Wallace : The geographical distrihution of animals, vol. ii, p. 247. New York, 

 1876. 



*4 Alfred R. Wallace : The geographical distribution of animals, vol. i, pp. 245-246. 

 New York, 1876. 



*5 The flesh of the tatus is very much prized for food, and this naturally leads to the 

 hunting and killing of these animals, which should he protected. 



*^ George Gardner : Travels in the interior of Brazil, p. 280. London, 1846. 



*'^ Don Felix de Azara : Voyages dans I'Amerique Meridionale, vol. i, p. 192. Paris, 

 1809. 



