110 Annals of the South African Museum. 



Sub-Family DOEYLINAE. 



The members of this sub-family are commonly known as Driver 

 or Legionary Ants. The males, which are winged and provided with 

 eyes, are frequently taken at lights ; on the other hand, the workers 

 are blind, with the exception of some species of Eciton, in which 

 there is a pair of single-faceted eyes, and the females (excepting one 

 species of Eciton) are both blind and wingless. The members of 

 the genus Dorylus are almost entirely subterranean in their mode 

 of life, rarely coming to the surface except in dull, cloudy weather. 

 The species of the sub- genus Anormna, which live in the more 

 tropical and forested regions of Africa, and to which the term Driver 

 Ants was originally applied, and the Ecitini of South America, are, 

 however, usually seen above the surface, although, should the rays of 

 the sun prove too powerful, they will construct temporarily tunnels 

 with particles of earth held together by their saliva. The species of 

 Aenictus are not so shy of the light, and may be seen foraging about 

 even in bright sunlight. 



It is probable that all, or at least the majority, of the species are 

 carnivorous, although D. orientahs has been shown by Green to feed 

 also on tubers and the bark of trees. Hitherto, as far as I am aware, 

 none of these ants has been known to tend other insects, such 

 as Aphids, Coccids, and Membracids, for the sake of their sweet 

 secretions ; but Mr. E. Jack, Government Entomologist for 

 S. Rhodesia, has recently informed me that a species of Dorylus 

 (of which he kindly sent me examples, — D. fulvus, race rhodesiae, 

 Forel) was found by him in large numbers, and apparently tending 

 Membracid larvae which were feeding on the roots of maize. 



As far as is known, the members of this sub-family do not as 

 a rule make permanent nests. This course is determined by their 

 exceedingly predatory habits, which compel the adoption of a migra- 

 tory form of life together with the formation of temporary nests in 

 localities which are sufficiently productive of animal life to detain 

 them for any length of time. Ranging far and wide in search of 

 prey, which consists of any animal they are strong enough to over- 

 power, these ants must sooner or later exhaust the areas round their 

 nests, and are forced to remove the latter to new and more produc- 

 tive hunting-grounds. Space does not permit of a lengthy descrip- 

 tion of the migrations and other habits of the Dorylinae in this paper, 

 and the reader should consult the writings of Bates, Belt, Smeath- 

 man, and others who have dealt with the subject in some detail. 



Some very remarkable myremecophilous insects have been found 



