Show from western africa tta its histo history ay iy condition ai and nd pros hect by J L wilson Wl lson laon curiosities of the insect world A species of ant commonly known as tiie tile the drivers are so denominated from the tile fact that they compel almost every other species of t the lie an animal imal imai creation to get out ont of their way or submit to the tile alternative of being devou devoured reil twy are a blick black or dark brown species which in sz czi and general appearance id is not unlike lle ile lie tile common ant of america it lias has a sharp flat head terminating in a pair of horizontal nippers w with ith lih which it can give a very severe revere pinch and if it gets hold of a soft pan part of the skin alwan a draws blood but leaves loves little or no irritation after it is removed the driver drivers 3 is the enemy and aud adl ail assailant ailant of not aply 0 ply every other insect I 1 ut of everything that comes in its it way nley they traverse the cou country try by da day dax tind and night in ernins of a quarter or half a mlle mila boug long iong they form a running stream and persons step over tile the train as it gilges glides glides clides I 1 along under the grass frequently start back under inder the tile impression of or its being a snake when movin moving 6 about in it these 1 ahng ng flies files they arg ri eit cit either cither h r about to change changa rrb fre their thein residence or are in search of or food they are alays always preceded ly by a few straggling guard guards who keep them informed of anny dangers or that may lie ili in their way it is astonishing with what rapidity n note 0 of alarm can be from one end of the line to the other the tiie soldiers who wilo always keep alone alonz alon tile the side of the tho reg nilar rilar column olumn the moment they U I 1 e receive r eee eel 7 11 a note of alarm set oli tiff with all di dispatch pati pata for t the h point of danger darger while the main body is either brovot brou bror git to a dead lull or turned backward but hut as soon as the obstruction is removed or Is found not to tie lie insuperable the tho nr tin ilu army anny is ILI in motion again T they ley seem to have regular 1 ars arr aarsand sand and there are runners passing backward and forward ali nil tho the while ble as if ir to keep keel up a constant communication between the front and the rov roy when wheat about to cross a well trodden path where they are ve likely to 0 o be disturbed the soldiers weave veave then s lvis into a complete arch extending across th the viol edth of ille ifie path under which the fern il s and bearing tearing the tile larva pass without the tiie least exposure exposi ire lre the tho construction of ho tho arch with their own bodies is one of the tile most singular au and add interesting things to be met with in ili the history of insects oae ant is raised entirely above tile the ground by having one pair of its feet interlocked I 1 with the fore forbat icat of another st upright and the tho other pair with another in tiie tile barne posture en cra tile tiie opposite side of the arch any number of these are formed ond and they are bound together by other nuts themselves lengthwise with the arch and serving is s transverse beams brams to hold tho the dif dlf different parts p arts together the arch arci when formed holds bolds together with the greatest tenacity and looks like a beautiful nat work of beads I 1 have frequently put the end of my cane cano under the arch and raised it four or five feet froni from the gro ground lind tind without letting a single ant lint fall As soon as althey they are raisel up however lio iio wever th they be begin belin I 1 to unravel themselves from elthe either ro end of the e wreath but instead of dropping to the gro ground arouni uni they mount up the end of tile the cane and mile mike fotine for the hand haud that assailed ther when disturbed in en thi sway way the AV irole body of soldiers spread theril themselves se ives over ever a space of 20 or 30 feet in diameter over alver neither mail man 1 nor best can pass without getting some of them upon him and receive a few sharp nips A horsa can scarcely be le forced th through them and a deg never neen does with a bound or leap and even then is sure to get one or more moril about lis his ils claws which are very apt to get hold of US lia lip in ili his attempt to remove them from his toes tors i if they come across a dead body of any kind they encircle it and by the tine line the tilo le comes up it is completely covered they sll sli will til remain by it until every particle of flesh is fu consumed even should it be the tile carcass of an elephant and require several days to complete t their work they will wil attack living an aneals mals mais with equal vehemence he mence and there is nothing nochim of the animal race rece that can call effectually eft actually resist them then j A horse or cow shut up in ili a confined place would be harassed to death in fit a few hours and would be eaten up except the hair and skeleton in less lian tian forty eight hours they frequently visit dwelling houses bouses and if at night right as is li generally the tile cae case it is always no illde li t e of tile the inmates they enter enter by some hole and from the point where they emerge they spread themselves over the floor along tae the walts walls and over tile the under surface of the roof like a great scouring army every nook and corner and crevice in the house ia h explored and it d no other oilier insect however small can cluda their a earch the human inhabitant inhabitants are generally gene rany apprized of their approach ap by the fluttering of or cockroaches cockro aches iches and the squeaking of mice which have hare faiell ihno their tolls toils the mouse is usually seized in the tile first instances by a single ant but in his foolish attempt to get til ill thit it one detached instead of running off with it to a place placa of safety he gets hair half a dozen more on him ili in his distress and awo ago agony 1 ny half dis down and cries out and h N boon eoon overpowered by a multitude sufficient to destroy a much larger animal in a very few nota trace ol 01 the mouse is to be seen except a little hair anda and a few larger bones and in the morning the floor may be seen strewed with afie wings of the cock cockroaches oat oaf hes bes that bavo have been destroyed in the night light it is necessary for lle ile lie the human inhabitants jo 6 abandon the house during their occupancy of it whitall however is not more than a hours and they are more than repaid I 1 for or this temporary b by y having hasin havin 2 the tile house completely rid of all other inbe inject ctr which Is no small matter iii far a tropical country I 1 have known perso is tobe entirely destroyed by them who ijo ito from sickness or lameness could not get out of their way and had no one to rein move ove oye them it is said that criminals were once punished tied lied on this part of the tiie coast by being laid across the tracks of these thesa insects with letters on 01 i T this hs I 1 would be a refinement of cruelty for which no parallel can call be conceived if tha ever was tile the custom of the country it has lias lorg since p V ss sd d away these auts ants seldom possession of ofay oray uny kny one house more than a few hours but comet nes ties it takes them several days to gt gat g t through all the tho hauses houses of tho the same village there is 13 scarcely scarcity any way by which their progress can be aristed an arr sted sted sled and as a general thing it is though to be tie coe t if best b st policy to let them take their regular course they perform an all important service and the k i x onre which they occasion is temporary and might well be endured from tile tiie a w hloi are derived from it but in nothing is tile lie ingenuity of ta ties ce lil lit litt a insects more relli remarkably di piled plied than tho the expedient to which they frequently resort to crosa a little stream on the sand beach alter a shower of rain sometimes their train is ra cut in two v 0 by one of these little streamlets stream lets td T plunge into it t 11 singly they would soon be swept away aly the guskof the current they cometo come to the edge of the tiie water raise their antennal horns or f elert eiert I 1 point wint them from one diree direr tion tinn to another as if it they were taking a scientific vi of f all the daug dad day Ts rs of cres cros crossing snag slag they wander up and down own li th stream with willi the gre greatest idest uneasiness and findal finding r no to other way to 0 ross TOSS form themselves into a c knot hnot or raft of a dezu or more and 1 4 aich ach th laselves up upon on the stream they have by ty previous aas las ob sei set valion vallon made mada desure nu su re that they auld w uld strike a pro 1 point or benir oa 0 i the shore ai not be carrir d by the tile current tit iii the mini mint i iver over the moment they touch the tha c ther ether sid tiley tiey use us their claws ilke line anchors anchor sand and irold of oil rid ild a 1 a whole company disengage rhems res yes a aai bit i ir r off in single file ilithe lil ill ahe abe tuck ti ick of mose cit ti i irva it va preceded them thin I 1 havo have watch d them fur fir fi fkr r houy hours t dier ir a i 0 have bave seen Been raft al t r rat ral rait t of f thes thea little c jre are a ure go go over in safety when wheat il II they d attell 01 i d ta li zet fet get abrossi aaros singly they ul a ii u ve ik iki i r A i into he lie river |