The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-12
MOVING GREEN BANDS.
Curious Species of Tropical Ants
and Their Habits.
From the Washington Star.


I once had IL brought home to me i'm an
impressive manner that I had been very
unobservant of the things Immediately
about me. 1t came about in this manner.
l was camping alone on the Island OF To-
bago and had taken the trail leading from
my hut on the beach into the deep forest
a path over which 1 had walked at least a
score of times beforehand 1 presently
reached spot where the shade was so
dense that It made a sort of twilight sud
denly there appeared to my astOnished
eyes something that caused me to rub
them IN doubt whether / was not dream
ing; for right in front of me, crossing the
path, was a band of green, stretching
across the brown, dun-colored earth, and
as my eyes became accustomed to the
dim light so that l could observe 1t more
particularly, 1 saw that this green rib
bon was moving regularly along, like the
belt over a factory wheel At first it
seemed to be solid and unbroken, but soon
detected many divisions in the line, and
saw that IL was composed of thousands
of bits of leaves, each about half an inch
in diameter. Upon turning over some of
these leaf fragments, 1 found that the
motive power of each one was big red
ant, who chung to 1t desperately, and as
soon as released took its place in the ranks
again. For many minutes / watched the
verdent procession, but it seemed no near
er the end than when / first saw ii. Out
of the duslSy woods on one side the path IL
emerged, and into the depths on the other
it disappeared, travelling trelessly onward
to some destination unknown to me. 1
could not very well trace its course, the
forest being so dense; but there must have
been millions of ants in the column, all
marching in perfect order, and evidently
with some definite end in view.
We know that these insects have excite
ed the wonder and admiration of all OBJ
servers, from the time of Solomon to the
present They seem to possess instincts
which border close upon reason; for they
build bridges, bore tunnels, eXcaVate gal
leries; some of them make slaves of other
ants, and others keep a sort of insect
cows that yield them milk. Their life his
tories have been carefully studied by some
of the most eminent naturalists. The
very species that l had the good fortune
to find crossing my path that morning in
the forest is described by Mr. Alfred Wal
lace, who found it in the Amazon region
of Brazil. 1t seems to prefer a district
where red earth is abundant. and there it
builds great mounds, some times twenty
feet across and three or four feet in hight
These hillocks," says the famous natu-
ralist just mentioned, "are riddled with
holes in every direction, and into them
the ants may be seen dragging little cir
cular trees preferred by them. Orange
trees and leguminous shrubs suffer most
from their ravages, and these they some
times entirely strip of their foliage in a
night or two. Young plants, too, suffer
very much and cannot be grown in some
in one locality for a long time; for on my
observing to a gentleman a a cattle es-
tate near Para how remarkably the
track of these ants was worn across the
pathway and through the grass, he in
formed me that he had observed them
marching along that very track for fif-
teen or twenty years"
This, then, was the explanation of the
green ribbon across the trail; it was com
posed of ants carrying to their nests
leaves with which to line their cells. Those
which do this work are what is known
in the ant world as "neuters" They are
very strong and have tremendous laws.
These insects, which are known as the
great-headed red ants, not only use their
powerful scissor jaws upon the leaves of
trees and plants but should thew find a
tablecloth or handkerchief, or ANYTHING
of that kind on the ground, will cut out
of it neat little semi-circular holes taking
the pieces away to their nests, Whether
or not they use these bits of cloth for lin
ing their nests, or put them to their prop
er use as napkins and handkerchiefs, I
cannot say.
At certain seasons of the year, however,
the Indians of Brazil make harbarous re-
prisals for all their devastations "At one
time of the years." says Mr. Wallace. "the
female ants come out of their holes in
great numbers, and are caught by the In
dams by the basketful. The insects are
very sluggish, and never fly, though fur
nished at the time with wings When
they come out there is great excitement
n.
women and children setting themselves
to catching the 'saubas,' as they call
them. They are kept in caIabashes and
bottle-shaped baskets, the mouths of
which are stopped UP with few leaves.
1t is a rather singular sight to see for
the first time an Indian taking his break
fast in the sauba' season. The insects
are actually eaten alive, the ant being
held by its head, as we would hold a
strawberry by its stem, and the abdomen
bitten off. The only part eaten is the abb
domen which is very rich and fatty, from
the mass of undeveloped eggs. Having
secured the edible part of the ant, the
head and thoraX, with the wings and
legs attached, are thrown to the ground
where the wretched insect crawls about
as though unaware of the loss of its pos.
terror eXtremites. The Indians not only
eat them fresh, but also smoke and salt
them for future use, regarding them as
the choicest of their dainties."
/ was not aware of all the uses to which
these ants could be put when they crossed
NV trail in the woods; but II 1 had been
doubt greatly that I should have con-
sidered them available as articles Of diet
even though my larder was not always
supplied,