196 
A NATURALIST ON THE IROIVL. 
Here was the explanation of the mystery. These little 
unfortunates are the offspring of a young queen, who is 
ignorant ol nursing and has nobody to help her : they are 
stunted of course by want of food and mismanagement in 
infancy. 
The queen of the Red Ant, the mother of barbaric 
hordes, is herself a mild and handsome insect, nearly three 
quarters of an inch in length and of a fine green colour. 
From her no doubt the species obtained its name of 
CEcophylla smaragdina , which, freely rendered, means the 
Emerald Inhabitant of Leaf, Houses. But I am told that 
in New Guinea the worker also is green. Why it should 
be green there and red here is a curious question. It has 
been suggested that the red colour is protective on the 
bark cf mango trees, at which I am not surprised, for there 
are men who would suggest that the Union Jack is 
coloured red, white and blue to elude the observation of 
the enemy. 
