FANHS Button WiJun* JO Hjmb" ?. D*ctr>Ov JOOO 
17 
("A plant taking advantage ol ants ", 
EANHS BuUtti *, Sept. /Oct.. 198 1. p. 
10-1). Maybe this is a good time to 
find out what its distribution in 
Kenya really is? II you find it. please 
send derails to Dee or to me. It is a 
very recognisable plant, as described 
in Dee's article, the leaves and stems 
have the texture of sandpaper 
There is a related anr species Mfiior 
£<tUa Mayr which behoves in a similar 
way. The ants arc smaller and shiny 
black The bald patches around their 
nests arc smaller and irregular in 
shape, but they also have conspicuous 
bare pathways leading oil The pljnt 
Myrmtioucyn nrjfor/«i has nor been 
recorded from their nests as (ar as I 
know, bur any information about its 
distribution will he gratefully 
received. 
Af. gal fa and 
/VI. ceph.i/otn 
not seem to 
occur at 
the same' 
sites. 
, , Hum 
Harvesting termites come in two 
different varieties The snouted 
harvester termites Trinerriltrmn spp 
arc only a few mm long, and their 
numerous soldiers have dark red and 
black globular heads with a long 
pointed "nose" ui the front from 
which they squirt a sticky lluid 
smelling of turpentine, fhey live in 
small earth mounds and arc 
widespread in Kenya. 
The other harvester, UoJmtrmn 
woHdw/fitui Hagen, is a vers unusual 
termite. It forages boldly in the open 
by day or night, cutting up the stems 
and leaves of grass to carry back to 
the nest. The workers arc large, about 
a cm long and thick-bodied, with 
glossy dark head and thorax and a 
pale abdomen The most unusual 
feature, unique to this family 
(Hodotcrmitidae) is that the workers 
have tunrnon.il eyes. (The soldiers 
also have eyes, but that is not quite 
so unusual). The soldiets arc even 
larger than the workers, with red- 
brown heads and black serrated jaws. 
They usually stand guard at the 
entrances to the foraging holes. 
Hodattrmti nests arc large, but they 
spread over a considerable area. 
and there is no mound 
to be seen. The 
termites betray their 
presence by making 
conical piles of loose 
soil pellets about 
13-25 cm across 
and 10-15 cm high 
with a pipe up the middle 
built of cemented soil pellets. Thr 
trrmitc workers c limb up inside the 
pipe to push more pellets our the top. 
II you find an active conical pile with 
moist soil -it the tip (as in the photo 
on p.2-iN of ( A: T. Stuart, 1994). you 
can often watch the (resh pellets 
being pushed out. and if you quickly 
knock the pile over you can catch the 
termite workers inside Somenmrs 
they pile cut pieces ol grass around 
the entrance hole. 
