424 



INSECTS. 



[Chap. XII. 



and fiercely assaulted by the ants as to endanger their 

 stay on the estates. 



The ants which burrow in the ground in Ceylon are 

 generally, but not invariably, black, and some of them 

 are of considerable size. One species, about the third 

 of an inch in length, is abundant in the hills, and espe- 

 cially about the roots of trees, where they pile up the 

 earth in circular heaps round the entrance to their 

 nests, and in doing this I have observed a singular 

 illustration of their instinct. To carry up each particle 

 of sand by itself would be an endless waste of labour, 

 and to carry two or more loose ones securely would be 

 to them embarrassing, if not impossible. To overcome 

 the difficulty they glue together with their saliva so 

 much earth or sand as is sufficient for a burden, and 

 each ant may be seen hurrying up from below with his 

 load, carrying it to the top of the circular heap outside, 

 and throwing it over, the mass being so strongly attached 

 as to roll to the bottom without breaking asunder. 



The ants I have been here describing are inoffensive, 

 differing in this particular from the Dimiya and another 

 of similar size and ferocity, which is called by the Sing- 

 halese Kaddiya. They have a legend illustrative of 

 their alarm for the bites of the latter, to the effect that 

 the cobra de capello invested the Kaddiya with her own 

 venom in admiration of the singular courage displayed 

 by these little creatures. 1 



Lepidoptera. Butterflies. — In the interior of the 

 island butterflies are comparatively rare, and, contrary 

 to the ordinary belief, they are seldom to be seen in the 

 sunshine. They frequent the neighbourhood of the 

 jungle, and especially the vicinity of the rivers and 

 1 Knox's Historical 'Relation of Ceylon, pt. i. ch. vi. p. 23. 



