FORAGING ANTS. 365 



dried specimen, the colour of the insect is yellowish-brown, be- 

 coming paler on the head, but when the creature is alive, the 

 head is nearly white. The eyes are very minute, looking like 

 little round dots on the side of the head, and being so extremely 

 small, that they can scarcely be perceived without the aid of a 

 , magnifying-glass. The half-inch power of the microscope shows 

 that they are oval and convex, but as they are set in little pits 

 or depressions, they do not project beyond the head. The 

 hexagonal compound lenses, which are generally found in insects, 

 are not visible, and the eye bears a great resemblance to that of 

 the spider. 



The difference in dimensions of the workers is very remark- 

 able. The specimen which I have just described, measures a 

 little under half an inch in length, exclusive of the limbs, while 

 another specimen is barely half that length, and in general 

 appearance much resembles the familiar ant, or emmet of our 

 gardens. 



The presence of these insects may be always known by the 

 numbers of pittas, or ant-thrushes, which feed much upon them, 

 and which are sure to accompany a column of Foraging Ants on 

 the march. The ant-thrushes are odd, short-tailed birds, with 

 stout bodies, and a remarkably long hind claw. Some of this 

 species are decorated with colours of wonderful brilliancy, 

 glittering with blue, green, copper-red, and purple, and having a 

 peculiar silken gloss. Others are soberly clad in simple brown 

 and white, and such are the birds which usually accompany the 

 Foraging Ants on their march. 



As soon as the experienced inhabitants of tropical America 

 see the ant-thrushes, they rejoice in the coming deliverance, and 

 welcome the approaching army. The fact is, that in those 

 countries insect life swarms as luxuriously as the vegetation, 

 and there are many insects which, however useful in their own 

 place, are apt to get into houses, and there multiply to such an 

 extent, that they become a real plague, and nearly drive the 

 inhabitants out of their own homes. They are bad enough by 

 day, but at night they issue from the nooks and crevices where 

 they lay concealed, and make their presence too painfully 

 known. 



There are insects that bite, and insects that suck, and in- 

 sects that scratch, and insects that sting, and many are re- 



