Chap. XIL] 
ANTS. 
423 
with it, and hold both together with their mandibles till 
their companions within attach them firmly by means 
of their adhesive paper, the assistants outside moving 
along as the work proceeds. If it be necessary to draw 
closer a leaf too distant to be laid hold of by the imme- 
diate workers, they form a chain by depending one from 
the other till the object is reached, when it is at length 
brought into contact, and made fast by cement. 
Like all their race, these ants are in perpetual 
motion, forming lines on the ground along which they 
pass, in continual procession to and from the trees on 
which they reside. They are the most irritable of the 
whole order in Ceylon, biting with such intense ferocity 
as to render it difficult for the unclad natives to collect 
the fruit from the mango trees, which the red ants 
especially frequent. They drop from the branches upon 
travellers in the jungle, attacking them with venom and 
fury, and inflicting intolerable pain both upon animals 
and man. On examining the structure of the head 
through a microscope, I found that the mandibles, in- 
stead of merely meeting in contact, are so hooked as to 
cross each other at the points, whilst the inner line is 
sharply serrated throughout its entire length ; thus occa- 
sioning the intense pain of their bite, as compared with 
that of the ordinary ant. 
To check the ravages of the coffee bug 1 (Lecanium 
coffece, Walker), which for some years past has devast- 
ated some of the plantations in Ceylon, the experiment 
was made of introducing the red ants, who feed greedily 
on the Coccus. But the remedy threatened to be at- 
tended with some inconvenience, for the Malabar 
Coolies, with bare and oiled skins, were so frequently 
1 For an account of this pest, see p. 437. 
E E 4 
