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CHAPTER XXIV. 
SOCIAL INSECTS— [continued). 
A curious Ant from India (. Myrmica Kirbii) — Locality of its nest — Description 
of the nest, its material and mode of structure — The Driver Ant of Africa 
— Description of the insect — Reason for its name — Its general habits— De- 
structive powers of the Driver Ant — How the insects devour meat and convey 
it home — How they kill snakes — Native legend of the python — Their mode 
of march — Fatal effects of the sunbeams — An extemporised arch — Method of 
escaping from floods — Site of their habitation — Modes of destroying them — 
Living ladders and their structure — Method of crossing streams — Tenacity of 
life— A decapitated Ant — Mode of biting — Description of the insect — Amazon 
Ants and their slaves — Curious nest of a Brazilian Wasp — Weight of the 
nest and method of attachment. 
Although several species of Ants have been mentioned under 
the title of burrowing insects, there are many which possess 
very interesting habits, and which may here take their place 
among the creatures which build social habitations. Among 
them is a curious insect inhabiting India, and discovered by 
Colonel Sykes, the well-known naturalist, who called it Myrmica 
Kirbii. 
This insect forms its nest on the branches of trees and 
shrubs, and Colonel Sykes mentions that he has found their 
curious habitation on the branches of the Kurwund shrub, 
Carissa Carandas , and on the Mango tree, Mangifera Indica. 
The nests are more or less spherical, and are about as large 
as an ordinary foot-ball. The material of which they are made 
is cow-dung, which is spread in flakes in a manner that re- 
minds the observer of the outside cover of a wasp’s nest. The 
flakes are placed upon each other like the tiles of a house, 
so that although the insects can creep into the nest beneath 
the flakes, no water can enter. On the summit of the nest 
T 
