12 EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 
to banish sympathy, and after a few casual wav- 
ings of antenne, all passed by on the other side. 
Not only this, but the unfortunates were act- 
ually in danger of attack within the very lmes 
of traffic of the legionaries. Several times I no-~ 
ticed small rove-beetles accompanying the ants, 
who paid little attention to them. Whenever 
an ant became suspicious and approached with 
a raised-eyebrow gesture of antennz, the beetles 
turned their backs quickly and raised threaten- 
ing tails. But I did not suspect the vampire 
or thug-like character of these guests—tolerated 
where any other insect would have been torn 
to pieces at once. A large crippled worker, hob- 
bling along, had slipped a little away from the 
main line, when I was astonished to see two rove- 
beetles rush at him and bite him viciously, a third 
coming up at once and joining in. The poor 
worker had no possible chance against this com- 
bination, and he went down after a short, futile 
struggle. Two small army ants now happened 
to pass, and after a preliminary whiffing with 
waving antenne, rushed joyously into the mélée. 
The beetles had a cowardly weapon, and raising 
their tails, ejected a drop or two of liquid, utterly 
confusing the ants, which turned and hastened 
