. Ants; their structure, development and behavior. ad rotted away, the THE POXEK1XE ANTS. 229 ants had returned up the limb, so that the nest was not only below butalso two feet above ground, and larvae were found in the portion abovethe ground level. M. forficata is unusually fierce and will followan intruder for quite thirty feet from the nest in the hope of gettinga parting bite. This ant is also more nocturnal in its habits, F. san-guinea more diurnal and of a gentler disposition, although both speciesare fond of the light and inhabit spots exposed to the sun. The bull-dog ants, according
. Ants; their structure, development and behavior. ad rotted away, the THE POXEK1XE ANTS. 229 ants had returned up the limb, so that the nest was not only below butalso two feet above ground, and larvae were found in the portion abovethe ground level. M. forficata is unusually fierce and will followan intruder for quite thirty feet from the nest in the hope of gettinga parting bite. This ant is also more nocturnal in its habits, F. san-guinea more diurnal and of a gentler disposition, although both speciesare fond of the light and inhabit spots exposed to the sun. The bull-dog ants, according to Barker, are very fond of water. They not onlydrink it but bathe and swim in it. He frequently saw them vol-untarily leave one side of a six-inch dish and swim across to the cites Lowne as saying that M. gulosa attacks large beetles ofthe genus Anoplognathus and buries them; and he also adds the state-ment that M. nigrodncta, when running, is able to take leaps of a footin length. Froggatt (1905) has published on Myrmecia FIG. 128. North American Proceratii. a, Sysphincta pergandci, worker: b, Procera- tiiiin silaceit/n. (Emery.) gulosa, tarsata and nigrodncta, a number of notes which confirm manyof the statements of previous observers. M. nigrodncta he designatesas the jumper and says that at the first alarm they come jumpingout from the side door of their raised mound,.which is generally on theground level, one after the other, like a pack of dogs, and fasten on tothe first thing they come across; as there is usually a large opening inthe top of the nest, the unwary investigator, who has not learned aboutthe side door, generally discovers it through a rear attack when thejumpers swarm up his legs and begin their, investigations. Thejumping habit of this ant is not surprising when we consider that sev-eral other Ponerinse (Harpegnathus, Odontomachus) also have thepower of leaping (see p. 180). The establishment of colonies by speciesof Myrmecia has no
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectants, bookyear1910
