724 HONEY-MAKING ANT OF TEXAS AND NEW MEXICO. 
the north ; the east, west and northern sides being surrounded by the 
soldiers, while the southern portion was left open and undefended. 
In case of any enemy approaching the encampment, a number 
of the guards leave their station in the line and sally forth to face 
the intruder, raising themselves upon their hind tarsi, and moving 
their somewhat formidable mandibles to and fro as if in defiance 
of their foe. Spiders, wasps, beetles and other insects are, if they 
come too near to the hive, attacked by them in the most merciless 
manner, and the dead body of the vanquished is speedily removed 
from the neighborhood of the nest, the conquerers marching back 
to resume their places in the line of defence, their object in the 
destruction of other insects being the protection of their encamp- 
ment, and not the obtaining of food. While one section of the 
black workers is thus engaged as sentinels, another and still more 
numerous division will be found busily employed in entering the 
quadrangle by a diagonal line bearing northeast, and carrying in 
their mouths flowers and fragments of aromatic leaves which they 
deposit in the centre of the square. A reference to the accom- 
panying sketch will give a more clear understanding of their 
course: the dotted line (a) representing the path of this latter 
section, while the mound of flowers and leaves is marked (c). If 
the line (a) be followed in a southwest direction, it will be found 
to lead to the trees and shrubs upon which another division of 
the black workers is settled, engaged in biting off the petals and 
leaves to be collected and conveyed to the nest by their assistants 
below. On the west side of the encampment is a hole marked 
(d), leading down to the interior of the nest, which is probably 
chiefly intended for the introduction of air, as in case of any 
individuals carrying their loads into it, they immediately emerge 
and bear them to the common heap, as if conscious of having 
been guilty of an error. A smaller hole, near the southeast 
corner of the square, is the only other means by which the inte- 
rior can be reached, and down this aperture, marked (b), the 
flowers gathered by the black workers are carried along the line 
(e), from the heap in the centre of the square, by a number of 
smaller yellow workers (No. 1), who, with their weaker frames 
and less developed mouth organs, seem adapted for the gentler 
offices of nurses for the colony within. It is remarkable that no 
: Sery ant is ever seen upon the line (e), and no yellow one ever 
i -oaches the line (a), each keeping his own separate station and 
