ot only this, but the unfortunates
were actually in danger of attack within the very lines of traffic of
the legionaries. Several times I noticed small rove-beetles
accompanying the ants, who paid little attention to them. Whenever an
ant became suspicious and approached with a raised-eyebrow gesture of
antennae, the beetles turned their backs quickly and raised threatening
tails. But I did not suspect the vampire or thug-like character of
these guests--tolerated where any other insect would have been torn to
pieces at once. A large crippled worker, hobbling along, had slipped a
little away from the main line, when I was astonished to see two
rove-beetles rush at him and bite him viciously, a third coming up at
once and joining in. The poor worker had no possible chance against
this combination, and he went down after a short, futile struggle. Two
small army ants now happened to pass, and after a preliminary whiffing
with waving antennae, rushed joyously into the _melee_. The beetles had
a cowardly weapon, and raising their tails, ejected a drop or two of
liquid, utterly confusing the ants, which turned and hastened back to
the column. For the next few minutes, until the scent wore off, they
aroused suspicion wherever they went. Meanwhile, the hyena-like
rove-beetles, having hedged themselves within a barricade of their
malodor, proceeded to feast, quarreling with one another as such
cowards are wont to do.

Thus I thought, having identified myself with the army ants. From a
broader, less biased point of view, I realized that credit should be
given to the rove-beetles for having established themselves in a zone
of such constant danger, and for being able to live and thrive in it.

The columns converged at the foot of the post, and up its surface ran
the main artery of the nest. Halfway up, a flat board projected, and
here the column divided for the last time, half going on directly into
the nest, and the other half turning aside, skirting the board,
ascending a bit of perpendicular canvas, and entering the nest from
the rear. The entrance was well guarded by a veritable moat and
drawbridge of living ants. A foot away, a flat mat of ants, mandibles
outward, was spread, over which every passing individual stepped. Six
inches farther, and the sides of the mat thickened, and in the last
three inches these sides met overhead, forming a short tunnel at the
end of which the nest began.

And here I noticed an interesting thi