New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1890-11-28
ANTS OF THE TROPICS.
TERMrES AND THEIR HAVOC TO MAN
SOLDIERS, SLAVES AND ouEBys-AENIEs THAT
ARE INYINCiBLE

Few things strike traveller IN tropical Africa ~
icing strange than the thousands q dlacseut
ants. and the more closely one examines tier hS%s
the more marvellous does II appear how Nature uss
these small insects In forever ploughnc ~ the won.
deffu vegetation 0f forests and open lind The art
by It's tunneng brings up the oh SOIL which having
been long covered up wants again 10 be exposed n
the air and rofing vegetation. 10 due time again IN
support vegetable life. This transfer ~ the layers II
earth In temperate climates Is done by the worms.
In the tropics the ant IS the chief worker.
First among these the tcrnitc. whose hons
source of wonder and Interest. standing nut
In turrced clusters fourteen. sixteen feet and some
times even higher, one might think them at first N,
homes of the forest gnomes They are simply cnor.
nous colonies OF the white ant the terror Of every
householder In the tropics, for as they work always
under cover the silent destruction not discovered
till some day an apparently sound chair gives way
and you then learn that thousands OF these inserts
have been eating away tho woodwork. leaving only
the finest outside Skin. A wooden trunk that you
had fondly hoped to pack your things in when You
started for home crumbes into heap OF chips when
you try to lift II.
Once a board OF officers who ordered 10 find
out at Thyctmo In Burmab, how II was that thirty iron
cots had disappeared. gave IL their opinion that
they had been eaten by white ants. This Is rather
a hard nut Of a story to crack, but no known wood
Is safe from their ravages.
dark and nearly every forest will be found covered
with tunnced ways These tunnels arc built from tho
ground upward the outer bark spccls Of earth being
piled another, and made 10 adhere by sticky
oxidation from the insect itself. These tunnel, cover
every limb and soon the ants strike deal
dry branch work Is at begun and the dry woot
in tiny little round spscks Is carried down TO the
nest the ground below, having galleries, however
going deep into the EARTH
In II n Ia
strange how clear the underwood is from fallen logs
As tree falls 1t Is entirely covered with
eartbcn envelope and soon there T. nothing but the
outside skin Of the tree remaining, which italy dis
appears with the first good rain. Besides the earth
washed OF the mounds by the heavy tropical rain
all these tunnels make small muddy streamets down
the side Of every tree, and sitting round the thousand
plants OF the forest give richer manure than any
made by the hand OF man.
Strange insects, too are these termites. In one
OF their nests the most absolute stcrly and
the most wonderful fecundity.
Lowest In grade in these republics are the WORKERS
sightcss, unnatured. for they arc an absolute ~t'
simply wording by strange instinct 10 1--we their
aimless lives
The fat emmes would fall easy prey to the fercs
armies Of ants always the forage for some defence.
less member Of their family. II not that Tiers
soldiers In every anthill. aud these guard tis
"sapwork' IL moves up the tree or along some q
and though sightleSs, ever ready Ia light b tus
death when foe approaches. The male tcrme Ia
provided with wings, which il unllOOks when enicrn;
the bridal chamber, and has eyes. II never. how.
ever comes out from the harcm. except ~ new
colonizer. 10 be told Of later The strangest nhab
liant Of these tiny hills Is the queen, or female ant,
whose chamber Is far underground. with the head
Of true tcrmlte, only about onefourth Of an ineh
long, she ends OF with body frequently three inches
long, averaging inch broad and nearly half AN inch
thick She Is cncascd An an envelope Of most caro-
fully prepared clay through which are many sinah
holes admit the workers, who. moving mp and down
a gangway round her. tend 10 her wants, and carry
away the thousands Of eggs she lays daily To tho
nurseries, in another part Of the nest
Ants are polyandrous, and the favored suitor mas
his own private entrance 10 the boudoir Of his queen
At the end OF the rainy season excitement reen'
supreme in every anthll. ID Is then that the nan
dreds of kings maics) ana queens are iauncch no
the outer world 10 start new colony. For weeks
they have been the pampered and spoiled ehudicn OF
the great community, but now nature gives them WINGS
and each one, choosing mate, starts for the upper
world They arc fat and well tel. and bird and
many an insect knows IL. continuous oond Of tiese
ants rises few feet from the ground, and ten' iaAeh
by the wind, they try TO reach some friendly sp''
where they can begin operations OF forming n" homo
Few. however, are successful in their endeavor ms
bouchs and wigs Of every tree and bush In the neigh
hue, from the dlngy ricebird to the royaimanued
cardinal flashing backwards and forwards through us
hepless mass making feast m for the gods. ana o"p
ceasing their foray when the sunset stops the eA'
the ants and warns the birds TO seek theh rooss'
Even some of those that reach again the i1eu"S
ground and who, by q wonderful pFO'isoh VI """'''
can at once rid themselves OF their wings, are p""
I'M by such birds and insects as nd their 1901 Oh u
ground. .
Nature has provided this ant with the power OF ~
once detaching its wings on landing. MOVING IN shss
ale the female in front, a few find friendly sner
ter where they begin TO lay the foundations Oh ao"''
principally of ants. .,, "a
Though the termIte is the most destructive s"'
woodwork in the tropics. there Is many ano'ne' :"
,he ,rpe formlcae that Is terror to man ana beass
II IL a black ant that seems 10 take It's pleasure ~
moving in long lines through forests wleie s''"'a "
strike the lair Of any animal. IL prompuS sei'S
ouadrupcd In all haste 10 some distant sne'''' 80
when these lines OF marauding ants enter N'pas',
cau.e more terror than leopard that mas hii''
strayng goat and frightened half The p'e'ap'' a.
the hamlet, or the alligator, that carrier INV"
river the Oldest and therefore hardest WORKED Wis
tho chief or kinget. as she was hlng inc oa's0
with water. All Is hustle when these a''s 'pp ~.
the scene, and wood ashes are strswn III "a ami AMI VIII
ro " INV easily shifting substance curious o
empiication of this is that the hare e w6ers
%eer 30 Pram pram, the west coast OF noS, owhers
tr miles inland the soil is sandy one ana no~ al
aise in This country. On solid ana 'he "a mo
these rodents were soon found by the ansl r,rsT
,,,le ones were billed This Is even true WIN ~ he
'' h.tcbino chickens in the tropics As soon 90 he
GOO a. broken ants smell out the nest ana r W mas
morning a inc brood OF chicks are Simply "''"e
OIL Te return to the marching ants, 'eS . flank
serried lines not more than three hS , srmed viii
e, formidabIc andibes while 10 the centre ,ssn
The slaves carrying the eggs ana pro''Sv ome IN.
e"nouerors should line be broken ny ,h so" rur
wary traveller. or when any quarry Is wi Ia en-.
these warriors spread themselves on, ,he,r ,nsndi
ear.sd attack begiis So deep do they og ,he' a N
bles that it Is only with kniie that ''ey ."
extracted -, A.. hor,s In the .cebs,'
- cot,on tree Is one to be dreaded us io,s
home is the hollow Not unirc9uent'y ., s nuts
,InSed notentac OF small Mficsh h s" ,a rons
on errinc wife or cantankerous eapoooeS' w
90 o. these bollows 70 die an awful death. ,..c, life
Ants to have few ene"'s ,srs ao sScy are tho