Published by the Gordon Technical College and the 

 . , Allied AssOciations^-iTefcomSir^s. 



1 p OU 23 fi. .. 



Vol. III.— No. 4. JULY, 1898,. s ^No. 12. 



All communications to be addressed to the editor, Mr. H . 

 E. Hill, at the Gordon Technical College, Geclong, Victoria, 

 Australia. 



The editor is not responsible for the statements in any paper. 



NOTES. 



The Soldier Ant. The soldier ant, Formica purpurea, is 

 among the most peculiar of its kind : the length is about half 

 an inch : the colour of the head and thorax is reddish brown, 

 and the abdomen is blue. Its long legs enable it to travel 

 great distances in search of food with considerable activity. 

 In building its nest, it generally selects a hard patch of ground, 

 such as an unused road. After a shower of rain, about a 

 dozen ants will start the nest, and soon there will be hundreds 

 at work, the nest often measuring ten or twelve yards in 

 diameter and doubtless containing millions of ants. 



It is very voracious in its habits, seizing on anything 

 that comes near the nest, and the stranger soon falls a victim 

 if it be not strong enough. In some districts these ants would 

 doubtless soon become a great pest if they were not destroyed 

 by the little black ants, and it is very interesting to watch the 

 small ants attacking a large nest ; the soldier ants form into 

 companies of a dozen and upwards to meet the small ants 

 which come in myriads from all directions. They seize on the 

 legs of the soldiers, several taking hold of each leg, and thus 

 overpowered the larger ants are soon destroyed. I have 

 known the battle to last six weeks, the ground being literally 

 covered with the slain on both sides, but in the end the small 

 ants always become masters and take possession of the nest. 



Joseph A. Hill. 



With reference to the note in our last number about the tui, 

 (N.Z.) robbing bees of their honey sac, Mr. Alex. Purdie states 

 that he has seen sparrows also doing so in the same gardens. 



