Note 10 — CHAP. I. THE ARCHITECTURE OF ANTS.

“Some ants” says Kirby, “form their nests entirely of the leaves of trees. One of these was observed by Sir Joseph Banks in New South Wales, which was formed by glueing together several leaves as large as a hand. To keep these leaves in a proper position, thousands of ants united their strength, and if driven away, the leaves spring back with great violence.” Latreille speaks of an ant which is met with at Cayenne (F. bispinosa) that forms its nest of a great quantity of down, which it removes from the seeds of a species of the cotton-tree. Madame Merian, in her “Insectes de Surinam,” speaks of an ant, which, in Tobago, is called the parasol ant. They are in the habit of cutting out circular pieces from the leaves of trees and plants (in this respect resembling the apis papaveris), and carrying them off to their nest. When thus engaged, they bear some resemblance to individuals walking with parasols, hence their name. Smeathman informs us, that one species of the Termites, or what are commonly known under the name of White Ants (T. arborum) builds its nest among the branches of trees; and we learn from M. de Laubere, that in that part of Siam which is exposed to inundations, all the ants construct their habitations in trees.—T.