OBSERVATIONS ON ANTS. 
81 
seldom uses it. The red Ants generally are much more sluggish 
and nothing like so plucky as the formicidae. Among the most 
formidable Ants of the world are the African Driver Ants. The 
5 5 of this species are specialized for different work. The 
soldiers have very large heads and big jaws. The Ants are con- 
tinually on the march carrying all their offspring with them. 
When on the march they keen in very uniform order. It is said 
that any animal that will not move from their path is as good as 
dead. When an army of Driver Ants approaches a native village, 
the inhabitants clear out of the way and allow the Ants to pass 
unmolested. Their numbers are millions and sometimes it takes 
days for a complete army to pass a certain point. Another 
interesting species of foreign Ant is called the honey pot. These 
are found in Australia. During the autumn the $ $ collect as much 
honey as possible, and this is how they store it. Some $ $ are 
told off to fix themselves up to the roof of the nest. In this 
position they are overfed with honey until their abdomens are so 
distended as to appear like balls of honey. Then during the 
season of no work, the other £ $ come and tap their barrels of 
honey and so obtain food. One observer states that the $ 5 take 
it in turns to be made into barrels. 
There is one more species I would like to mention, which is 
really not an Ant. This is the Termite or White Ant. It 
belongs to the Neuroptera, and so is distinct from true Ants. Their 
habits are very similar, except that there is a king and queen 
always in the nest. A young queen is quite a small insect, but 
with age it increases enormously, until the abdomen is two inches 
long. The sole work of the queen is to lay eggs, and this she 
does in millions. These termites are very destructive creatures. 
They enter houses from underneath the ground and work upwards. 
Through the floor they come and up through the legs of the 
tables and chairs, until one day the furniture collapses to a heap 
of dust. When destroying wood they always leave the outside 
skin intact, so that one does not suspect what is going on inside. 
List of species found in Somerset and Gloucester : — 
Somerset. Gloucester. 
Formica fusca. Formica rufa. 
Lasius niger. Formica fusca. 
Lasius flavus. Ivasius niger. 
Lasius mixtus. Lasius flavus. 
Lasius mixtus. 
Lasius alienus. 
Myrmica Lsevinodis. Myrmica Laevinodis. 
Myrmica scabrinodis. Myrmica scabrinodis. 
Myrmica lobicornis. 
Myrmecina graminicola. 
Supplement. — From the results of experiments I have made a 
type of artificial nest, which up to the present time seems to have 
fulfilled all the conditions necessary for the close observation of 
Ants, under as nearly as possible, natural conditions. 
