jaws, a nearly semicircular incision on the upper side; it then
takes the edge between its jaws, and by a sharp jerk detaches the
piece. Sometimes they let the leaf drop to the ground, where a
little heap accumulates, until carried off by another relay of
workers; but, generally, each marches off with the piece it has
operated upon, and as all take the same road to their colony, the
path they follow becomes in a short time smooth and bare, looking
like the impression of a cartwheel through the herbage.

It is a most interesting sight to see the vast host of busy
diminutive labourers occupied on this work. Unfortunately, they
choose cultivated trees for their purpose. This ant is quite
peculiar to Tropical America, as is the entire genus to which it
belongs; it sometimes despoils the young trees of species growing
wild in its native forests, but seems to prefer, when within
reach, plants imported from other countries, such as the coffee
and orange trees. It has not hitherto been shown satisfactorily
to what use it applies the leaves. I discovered this only after
much time spent in investigation. The leaves are used to thatch
the domes which cover the entrances to their subterranean
dwellings, thereby protecting from the deluging rains the young
broods in the nests beneath. The larger mounds, already
described, are so extensive that few persons would attempt to
remove them for the purpose of examining their interior; but
smaller hillocks, covering other entrances to the same system of
tunnels and chambers, may be found in sheltered places, and these
are always thatched with leaves, mingled with granules of earth.
The heavily-laden workers, each carrying its segment of leaf
vertically, the lower edge secured in its mandibles, troop up and
cast their burdens on the hillock; another relay of labourers