June i, 1882.] THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 
is that'the Chinese horticulturists are more fully clothed 
than are the ordinary natives of Ceylon ; and it may 
be that the red and yellow ants of China may not be so 
furious and venomous as are their congeners in Ceylon. 
The great red ant of Ceylon, the dvrniya of the 
Sinhalese (Formica smaragdmn, Fab.), is a truly 
formidable insect, as persons have had reason ever to 
remember who, unwittingly or purposely, have brokeu 
one of the nests which tiiey form by glueing the leaves 
of trees together, and have consequently received a 
shower of red ants about the region of tho neck and 
shoulders. Tennent writers of the red ant :— 
"It is particularly abundant in gardens and on fruit 
trees; it. constructs it* dwellings by glueing the leaves 
of such species as are suitable from their shape and 
pliancy into hollow hulls, and these it lines with a kind 
of transparent paper, like that manufactured by the 
Wasp. I have watched them at the interesting operation 
of forming these dwellings. A line of ants standing on 
the edge of one leaf bring another into contact 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 immediate 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 mo- 
tion, 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, bitiug with such intense ferocity as to 
render it difficult for the uuclad natives to collect the 
fruit from the mango trees, which the red ants especi- 
ally frequent. They drop from the branches upon tra- 
vellers 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, instead of merely 
meeting in contact, are so hooked as to cross each ether at 
the points, whilst the inner line is sharply terrated through- 
out its entire length ; thus occasioning she intense pain 
Of their bite, as compared with that ofthe ordinary ant. 
"To check the ravages of the coffee bug (Lecaniwm coffe,os 
Walker), which for some years past, has devastated 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 attended with 
some inconvenience, for tie- -Malabar coolies, with bare 
and oiled skins, were so frequently and fiercely assaulted 
by the ants as to endanger their stay on the estates." 
Tennent, after describing inoffensive ants states that 
besides the dimiya, there is another ant of similar size 
and ferocity which is called by the Sinhalese kotti- 
deya. Regarding this ant they have a legend 
that the cobra de capello invested the insect 
with her own venom, in admiration of 
tho singular courage displayed by these little creatures. 
It is not means of procuring and usiug ants as in- 
secticides, about which some of our correspondents 
aro anxious in Ceylon, but the best means of destroy- 
ing what the Chinese value and pay for. It seems 
to us that, as formic acid is plentiful in all tbo ant 
tribo, tho best mode of destroying the ants without 
injuring the trees would be a plentiful application of 
caustic lime, the nests beiug previously opened up by 
a pole, so as to receive and retain the lime. Corros. 
ito sublimate would effectually dispose of the insects, 
but its use would be expensive ami dangerous. Has 
carbolic acid received a fair trial ? If tho oraugo 
growors of Ceylou could bo induced to leave fruit on 
tho trees until turning \cllow, they, to circumvent 
tie' httle maggots to which we have referred, might 
bo glad to bo allowed to collect tho red ants which 
arc such a nuisance to cultivators ..| Lilierian eotl'ee. 
Wo have myriads of ants in Ceylon, some Tery curious 
ami some of largo size, bu' we eaunot eompeV ui'h 
the one-leggod aut, which can move bat not " 1. 
216 
I mote," as Dr. MacGowan's countrymen would say. 
As to size, we must certainly draw the line far 
short of the dimensions of that other one-foot pickled 
ant in China which measured 12 inches in length. We 
are, we confess, taken considerably aback by what Dr. 
MacGowan states of the scaly ar.t-eater (the pangolin) 
apparently as of his own knowledge, and not as 
derived from Chinese gossip or tradition. The creat- 
ure exists in Ceylon, and its habits have been carefully 
observed, Tennent finding them very affectionate pets. 
We have never heard or read that the so-called 
"armadillo" attracted the ants by its odour, or 
used its armature of scales for any purpose but that 
of defence. When attacked it rolls itself up like a 
hedgehog, and its tail scales defend it, like a coat of 
mail. But the only mode in which it is believed 
to take its prey is by thrusting out its long aod 
worm-like tongue, covered with a viscid substance. 
On to what probably they take for a specimen of 
ophidian, C'acila glulinosa, the ants crowd and cannot 
get away until at the ant-eater's convenience the 
tongue is retracted and all that covers it, including 
little pebbles and saud, which probably help digestion, 
are conveyed to the creature's siomach. We are sur- 
prised to find Tennent stating that the natives re- 
gard this innocent and interesting creature with 
aversion, some calling it "the Negombo devil." 
What we heard was that they prized its flesh, and to 
this propensity we attributed the loss of a specimen 
which we were about to ship to England. The creat- 
uro not only defends itself with its tail, but stands on 
this organ as ou a fifth foot, and surveys the land- 
scape. Such a tail beats that of which O'Connell 
was the head, and has more cohesion than the tail 
of the traitor Parnell has been proved to have had under 
the test of the Cldture. 
In the article on "Ants" in Chambers's Encyclopaidia 
there is a large amount of valuable information, but 
the writer does not seem to have seen Tennent*s 
books, as there is no reference to ants in Ceylon. 
But we find full details of the fearful plague of ants in 
Grenada alluded to briefly by Dr. MacGowan, thus ■— 
About niuety years ago, prodigious numbers of a part- 
icular kind of aut (/'\ «uWmnWrt)appeared in the island 
of Grenada. This species makes its nests under the roots 
of plants, and the sugar-canes were so weakened and in- 
jured in consequence, that the plantations became nearly 
unproductive. ' They descended from the hill, like torreuts 
aud the plantations, as well as every path and road for 
miles, were filled with them. Kats, mice, and reptiles 
of every kind became an easy prey to them ; and even 
the birds, which they attacked whenever they lighted on 
the ground in search of food, were so harassed, as to be 
at length unable to resist them. Streams of water opposed 
only a temporary obstacle to their progress ; the foremost 
rushing blindly on certain death, and fresh armies instantly 
following, till tho bank was formed of the carcasses of those 
which were drowned, sufficient to dam up the waters, anil 
allow tho the main body to pass over in safety below. 
Even fire was tried without effect. When it was lighted 
to arrest their route, they rushed into the blaze in such 
myriads as to extinguish it.' A reward of £20,000 was 
offered in vain for an effectual means of destroying them ; 
but in I7f*0 a hurricane which tore up the canes, and 
exposed their habitations to a deluge of rain, freed the 
island from this plague. 
The provisions for defence aud offence of these curious 
creatures aro thus described :— 
The females and neuters of some kinds .genera Ponrrn, 
Myrmica, Atta, ami Cryiitorrrm) are armed with stings; 
otiier kinds (Formica and Patj/tTgiu) have no sting, but 
have the power of ejertinc a peculinr volntile acid, formic 
ncid (q. v.), from a small sac in the abdomen : by this 
means effectually repelling many adversaries, to which the 
pungent fumes are intolerable. Small animal* are soon 
killed by the vapour of at: ant-hill ; and ;i do„ f • «- 1 ' ii 
known "to retire yelling from the effect upon hisevn, either 
of the. vapour, or of ■ discharge of tb« fluid itwlf . It ii 
