THE DRIVER ANT. 
281 
before me, and curious beings they are. The largest are black, 
with a slight tinge of red, and have an enormous head, almost 
equalling one-third of the entire length. It is deep and wide 
as well as long, as indeed is necessary for the attachment of the 
muscles which move the enormous jaws. These weapons are 
sharply curved, and when closed, they cross each other, so that 
when the insect has fairly fixed itself, its hold cannot be loosened 
unless the jaws are opened. It is useless, therefore, to kill the 
ant, for its head will retain its grasp in death as well as in 
life. Beside the sharp point of the mandibles, they are further 
armed with a central tooth, which is so formed that when the 
mandibles are quite closed, and the points crossed to the utmost, 
the tips of the central teeth meet and form another means of 
grasping. 
There is no vestige of external eyes, and even the half-inch 
power of the microscope fails to show the slightest indication of 
visual organs. As, however, the horny coat of the head is suf- 
ficiently translucent to permit the articulation of the jaws to be 
seen through it, when a very powerful light is thrown upon the 
head, and the eyes of the observer are well sheltered, it is possible 
that the insect may have some sense of sight, and at all events 
will be able to distinguish light from darkness. 
The limbs are of a paler red than the body, and although they 
are slender and delicate, their grasping power is very great. Two 
of my specimens had grasped each other’s limbs with such force 
that they could not be separated without damaging the insect^ 
and it was not until the rigid joints were softened with moisture, 
and then with the aid of a magnifier, that I succeeded in dis- 
engaging the insects. 
The smaller specimens are not so black as the larger, nor are 
their jaws so proportionately large, but they are still formidable 
insects, if not from their individual size, yet from their collective 
numbers and their reckless courage, which urges them to attack 
anything that opposes them. Fire will frighten almost any 
creature, but it has no terrors for the Driver Ant, which will dash 
at a glowing coal, fix its jaws in the burning mass, and straight- 
way shrivel up in the heat. 
