Chapter 15
The membracids must of all deserve the name of "bugges" for no elf or hobgoblin was ever more bizarre. Their legs and heads and bodies are small and aphid-like, but aloft there spring minarets and handles and towers and thorns and groups of hairy balls, out of all reason and sense. Only Stegosaurus and Triceratops bear comparison. Another group of five-sided bugs are the skunks and civet-cats among insects, guarding themselves from danger by an aura of obnoxious scent.
Not the least strange of this assemblage is the author of our rainbow in the stump. My awkwardness had broken into a hollow which opened to the light on the other side of the rotten bole. A vine had tendriled its way into the crevice where the little weaver of rainbows had found board and lodging. We may call him toad-hopper or spittle-bug, or as Fabre says, "_Contentons-nous de Cicadelle, qui respecte le tympan._" Like all of its kindred, the Bubble Bug finds Nirvana in a sappy green stem. It has neither strong flight, nor sticky wax, thorny armature nor gas barrage, so it proceeds to fashion an armor of bubbles, a cuirass of liquid film. This, in brief, was the rainbow which caught my eye when I broke open the stump. Up to that moment no rainbow had existed, only a little light sifting through from the vine-clad side. But now a ray of sun shattered itself on the pile of bubbles, and sprayed itself out into a curved glory.
Bubble Bugs blow their froth only when immature, and their bodies are a distillery or home-brew of sorts. No matter what the color, or viscosity or chemical properties of sap, regardless of whether it flows in liana, shrub, or vine, yet the Bug's artesian product is clear, tasteless and wholly without the possibility of being blown into bubbles. When a large drop has collected, the tip of the abdomen encloses a retort of air, inserts this in the drop and forces it out. In some way an imponderable amount of oil or dissolved wax is extruded and mixed with the drop, an invisible shellac which toughens the bubble and gives it an astounding glutinous endurance. As long as the abdominal air-pump can be extended into the atmosphere, so long does the pile of bubbles grow until the insect is deep buried, and to penetrate this is as unpleasant an achievement for small marauders as to force a cobweb entanglement. I have draped a big pile of bubbles around the beak of an insect-eating bird, and watched it shake its head and wipe its beak in evident disgust at the clinging oily films. In the north we have the bits of fine white foam which we characteristically call frog-spittle, but these tropic relatives have bigger bellows and their covering is like the interfering mass of films which emerges from the soap-bubble bowl when a pipe is thrust beneath the surface and that delicious gurgling sound produced.
The most marvelous part of the whole thing is that the undistilled well which the Bubble Bug taps would often overwhelm it in an instant, either by the burning acidity of its composition, or the rubber coating of death into which it hardens in the air. Yet with this current of lava or vitriol, our Bug does three wonderful things, it distills sweet water for its present protective cell of bubbles, it draws purest nourishment for continual energy to run its bellows and pump, and simultaneously it fills its blood and tissues with a pungent flavor, which in the future will be a safeguard against the attacks of birds and lizards. Little by little its wings swell to full spread and strength, muscles are fashioned in its hind legs, which in time will shoot it through great distances of space, and pigment of the most brilliant yellow and black forms on its wing covers. When at last it shuts down its little still and creeps forth through the filmy veil, it is immature no longer, but a brilliant frog-hopper, sitting on the most conspicuous leaves, trusting by pigmental warning to advertise its inedibility, and watchful for a mate, so that the future may hold no dearth of Bubble Bugs.
On my first tramp each season in the tropical jungle, I see the legionary army ants hastening on their way to battle, and the leaf-cutters plodding along, with chlorophyll hods over their shoulders, exactly as they did last year, and the year preceding, and probably a hundred thousand years before that. The Colony Egos of army and leaf-cutters may quite reasonably be classified according to Kingdom. The former, with carnivorous, voracious, nervous, vitally active members, seems an intangible, animal-like organism; while the stolid, vegetarian, unemotional, weather-swung Attas, resemble the flowing sap of the food on which they subsist--vegetable.
Yet, whatever the simile, the net of unconscious precedent is too closely drawn, the mesh of instinct is too fine to hope for any initiative. This was manifested by the most significant and spectacular occurrence I have ever observed in the world of insects. One year and a half ago I studied and reported upon, a nest of Ecitons or army ants.[3] Now, eighteen months later, apparently the same army appeared and made a similar nest of their own bodies, in the identical spot near the door of the outhouse, where I had found them before. Again we had to break up the temporary colony, and killed about three-quarters of the colony with various deadly chemicals.
[Footnote 3: See page 58.]
In spite of all the tremendous slaughter, the Ecitons, in late afternoon, raided a small colony of Wasps-of-the-Painted-Nest. These little chaps construct a round, sub-leaf carton-home, as large as a golf ball, which carries out all the requirements of counter shading and of ruptive markings. The flattened, shadowed under surface was white, and most of the sloping walls dark brown, down which extended eight white lines, following the veins of the leaf overhead. The side close to the stem of the leaf, and consequently always in deep shadow, was pure white. The eaves catching high lights were black. All this marvelous merging with leaf tones went for naught when once an advance Eciton scout located the nest.
As the deadly mob approached, the wasplets themselves seemed to realize the futility of offering battle, and the entire colony of forty-four gathered in a forlorn group on a neighboring leaf, while their little castle was rifled--larvæ and pupæ torn from their cells and rushed down the stems to the chaos which was raging in Eciton's own home. The wasps could guard against optical discovery, but the blind Ecitons had senses which transcended vision, if not even scent.
Late that night, our lanterns showed the remnants of the Eciton army wandering aimlessly about, making near approach impossible, but apparently lacking any definite concerted action.
At six o'clock the following morning I started out for a swim, when at the foot of the laboratory steps I saw a swiftly-moving, broad line of army ants on safari, passing through the compound to the beach. I traced them back under the servants' quarters, through two clumps of bamboos to the outhouse. Later I followed along the column down to the river sand, through a dense mass of underbrush, through a hollow log, up the bank, back through light jungle--to the outhouse again, and on a large fallen log, a few feet beyond the spot where their nest had been, the ends of the circle _actually came together_! It was the most astonishing thing, and I had to verify it again and again before I could believe the evidence of my eyes. It was a strong column, six lines wide in many places, and the ants fully believed that they were on their way to a new home, for most were carrying eggs or larvæ, although many had food, including the larvæ of the Painted Nest Wasplets. For an hour at noon during heavy rain, the column weakened and almost disappeared, but when the sun returned, the lines rejoined, and the revolution of the vicious circle continued.
There were several places which made excellent points of observation, and here we watched and marveled. Careful measurement of the great circle showed a circumference of twelve hundred feet. We timed the laden Ecitons and found that they averaged two to two and three-quarter inches a second. So a given individual would complete the round in about two hours and a half. Many guests were plodding along with the ants, mostly staphylinids of which we secured five species, a brown histerid beetle, a tiny chalcid, and several Phorid flies, one of which was winged.
The fat Histerid beetle was most amusing, getting out of breath every few feet, and abruptly stopping to rest, turning around in its tracks, standing almost on its head, and allowing the swarm of ants to run up over it and jump off. Then on it would go again, keeping up the terrific speed of two and a half inches a second for another yard. Its color was identical with the Ecitons' armor, and when it folded up, nothing could harm it. Once a worker stopped and antennæd it suspiciously, but aside from this, it was accepted as one of the line of marchers. Along the same route came the tiny Phorid flies, wingless but swift as shadows, rushing from side to side, over ants, leaves, débris, impatient only at the slowness of the army.
All the afternoon the insane circle revolved; at midnight the hosts were still moving, the second morning many had weakened and dropped their burdens, and the general pace had very appreciably slackened. But still the blind grip of instinct held them. On, on, on they must go! Always before in their nomadic life there had been a goal--a sanctuary of hollow tree, snug heart of bamboos--surely this terrible grind must end somehow. In this crisis, even the Spirit of the Army was helpless. Along the normal paths of Eciton life he could inspire endless enthusiasm, illimitable energy, but here his material units were bound upon the wheel of their perfection of instinct. Through sun and cloud, day and night, hour after hour there was found no Eciton with individual initiative enough to turn aside an ant's breadth from the circle which he had traversed perhaps fifteen times: the masters of the jungle had become their own mental prey.
Fewer and fewer now came along the well worn path; burdens littered the line of march, like the arms and accoutrements thrown down by a retreating army. At last a scanty single line struggled past--tired, hopeless, bewildered, idiotic and thoughtless to the last. Then some half dead Eciton straggled from the circle along the beach, and threw the line behind him into confusion. The desperation of total exhaustion had accomplished what necessity and opportunity and normal life could not. Several others followed his scent instead of that leading back toward the outhouse, and as an amoeba gradually flows into one of its own pseudopodia, so the forlorn hope of the great Eciton army passed slowly down the beach and on into the jungle. Would they die singly and in bewildered groups, or would the remnant draw together, and again guided by the super-mind of its Mentor lay the foundation of another army, and again come to nest in my outhouse?
Thus was the ending still unfinished, the finale buried in the future--and in this we find the fascination of Nature and of Science. Who can be bored for a moment in the short existence vouchsafed us here; with dramatic beginnings barely hidden in the dust, with the excitement of every moment of the present, and with all of cosmic possibility lying just concealed in the future, whether of Betelgeuze, of Amoeba or--of ourselves? _Vogue la galère!_
APPENDIX OF SCIENTIFIC NAMES
Page Line
4 26 Moriche Oriole; _Icterus chrysocephalus_ (Linné)
8 10 Toad; _Bufo guttatus Schneid_.
18 3 Bat; _Furipterus horrens_ (F. Cuv.)
4 Large Bats; _Vampyrus spectrum_ (Linné)
6 Vampire Bats; _Desmodus rotundus_ (Geoff.)
22 5 Giant Catfish, Boom-boom; _Doras granulosus_ Valen.
23 5 Kiskadee; _Pitangus s. sulphuratus_ (Linné)
25 26 Parrakeets; _Touit batavica_ (Bodd.)
26 Great Black Orioles; _Ostinops d. decumanus_ (Pall.)
26 5 House Wrens; _Troglodytes musculus clarus_ Berl. and Hart
29 5 Coati-mundi; _Nasua n. nasua_ (Linné)
32 2 Frog; _Phyllomedusa_ sp.
34 18 Mazaruni Daisies; _Sipanea pratensis_ Aubl.
20 Button Weed; _Spermacoce_ sp.
36 23 Melancholy Tyrant; _Tyrannus melancholicus satrapa_ (Cab. and Hein.)
37 2 Monarch; _Anosia plexippus_ (Linné)
38 7 Red-breasted Blue Chatterer; _Cotinga cotinga_ Linné
18 Yellow Papilio; _Papilio thoas_ Linné
49 26 Parrakeets; _Touit batavica_ (Bodd.)
52 3 Purple-throated Cotinga; _Cotinga cayana_ (Linné)
53 15 Dark-breasted Mourner; _Lipaugus simplex_ Licht.
54 26 Toucans; _Ramphastus vitellinus_ Licht.
59 6 White-fronted Ant-bird; _Pithys albifrons_ (Linné)
60 16 Army Ants; _Eciton burchelli_ Westwood
97 10 Great Green Kingfisher; _Chloroceryle amazona_ (Lath.)
11 Tiny Emerald Kingfisher; _Chloroceryle americana_ (Gmel.)
103 25 Gecko; _Thecadactylus rapicaudus_ (Houtt.)
109 8 Howling Monkeys; _Alouatta seniculus macconnelli_ Elliot
113 7 Bower Bird; _Ptilonorhynchus violaceus_ (Vieill.)
116 24 Cassava; _Janipha manihot_ Kth.
126 20 Frog, Gawain; _Phyllomedusa_ sp.
132 17 Marine Toad; _Bufo marinus_ (Linné)
133 8 Scarlet-thighed Leaf-walker; _Phyllobates inguinalis_.
149 2 Attas, Leaf-cutting Ants; _Atta cephalotes_ (Fab.)
151 12 Fruit Bats; _Vampyrus spectrum_ (Linné)
152 11 King Vulture; _Gypagus papa_ (Linné)
11 Harpy Eagle; _Harpia harpyja_ (Linné)
163 3 Ani; _Crotophaga ani_ Linné
7 Marine Toad; _Bufo marinus_ (Linné)
164 19 White-faced Opossum; _Metachirus o. opossum_ (Linné)
173 1 Attas, Leaf-cutting Ants; _Atta cephalotes_ (Fab.)
5 Hummingbird; _Phoethornis r. ruber_ (Linné)
174 7 Tamandua; _Tamandua t. tetradactyla_ (Linné)
175 1 Trogon; _Trogon s. strigilatus_ (Linné)
9 Tarantula Hawks; _Pepsis_ sp.
181 17 Cicada larvæ; _Quesada gigas_ Oliv.
182 5 Roaches; _Attaphila_ sp.
231 26 Manatee; _Trichechus manatus_ Linné
232 24 Crocodile; _Caiman sclerops_ (Schneid.)
233 6 Jacana; _Jacana j. jacana_ (Linné)
8 Gallinule; _Ionornis martinicus_ (Linné)
9 Green Herons; _Butorides striata_ Linné
10 Egrets; _Leucophoyx t. thula_ (Molina)
233 17 Kiskadees; _Pitangus sulphuratus_ (Linné)
19 Black Witch; _Crotophaga ani_ (Linné)
19 House Wren; _Troglodytes musculus clarus_ Berl. and Hart
22 Manatee; _Trichechus manatus_ (Linné)
242 1 Jacana; _Jacana j. jacana_ (Linné)
3 Gallinule; _Ionornis martinicus_ (Linné)
243 15 Mongoose; _Mungos mungo_ (Gmel.)
246 11 Little Egret; _Leucophoyx t. thula_ (Molina)
14 Tri-colored Heron; _Hydranassa tricolor_ (P. L. S. Mull.)
15 Little Blue Heron; _Florida c. caerulea_ (Linné)
249 14 White Egret; _Casmerodius egretta_ (Gmel.)
250 10 Night Heron; _Nyctanassa violacea cayennensis_ (Linné)
254 1 Giant Catfish, Boom-boom; _Doras granulosus_ Valen.
256 6 Long-armed Beetle; _Acrocinus longimanus_ (Linné)
276 10 Rufus Hummingbird; _Phoethornis r. ruber_ (Linné)
278 16 Tapping Wasp; _Synoeca irina_ Spinola
280 10 Mazaruni Daisy; _Sipanea pratensis_ Aubl.
21 Trogons; _Trogonurus c. curucui_ (Linné)
282 10 Quadrille Bird; _Leucolepis musica musica_ (Bodd.)
284 3 Bubble Bugs; _Cercopis ruber_
289 16 Army Ants; _Eciton burchelli_ Westwood
INDEX
A
_Acrocinus longimanus_, 255-258
Allamander, 121
_Alouatta seniculus macconnelli_, 109
Ani, 163, 233
_Anosia plexippus_, 37
Antbirds, white-fronted, 59, 227
Antlions, 27, 28
Ants, Army, 58, 60, 154, 282, 289; attack on wasps, 290; circular marching of, 291-294; cleaning of, 79-81; cleaning of ground, 77; crippled, 70, 71, 81, 82; enemies, 72; foraging lines, 64; guests, 88, 292; labor, division of, 67; larvæ, 87; nest, 59-61, 74, 83, 289; nest entrance, 74; observing, methods of, 63; odor, 62, 64; parasites, 292; prey of, 67; rain, reaction to, 65, 66; refuse heaps, 77, 78; scavengers of nest piles, 78; speed of, 68, 69, 292; spinning, 84-86; vitality, 69
Ants, _Azteca_, 278
Ants, Borneo telegraph, 279
Ants, Leaf-cutting, 7, 152, 173, 289; at home, 172, 194; attack, method of guarding against, 177; attack, method of, 177-179; battle of giant soldiers, 168-171; castes, 166; enemies, 162-163; flight of kings and queens, 185-188; fungus, 180, 181; gardens, fungus, 179-181, 189; instinct, 190-192; leaf-chewing in nest, 180; leaves, carrying, 158-162; leaves, method of cutting, 158; name, origin of, 156; nest, 172; nest, foundation of, 152, 153, 189, 190; parasites, external, 176; paths, 163-165; queen, 152, 153; queens, young, in nest, 185; raids on garden, 154-155; scavengers of nest, 176; speed of, 165-166; soldier, description of, 177-178; trails, 163-165; visitors at nest, 174-176; worker, description of, 156, 157
_Attaphila_, 182-185
Attas. See Ants, Leaf-cutting.
_Atta cephalotes_, 155, 173
B
Bamboos, 9, 13, 23-25
Bats, 17-19
Bats, fruit, 151
Bats, vampire, 4, 18-21, 111, 208
Beach, Jungle, 90-111
Beena, 118
Bees, 35-37, 175
Beetle, 23
Beetle, Histerid, 292
Beetle, long-armed, 256-258
Beetle, rove, 72-73
Beetle, Staphylinid, 292
Beetle, water, in roots, 103
Boom-boom, 22, 252-255
Botanical Gardens, 122
Bower Bird, Purple, 113
Bougainvillia, 121
Boviander, flowers of, 120
_Bufo guttatus_, 8
_Bufo marinus_, 132, 163
Bugs, bubble, 284-288
Bugs, doodle, 28
_Butorides striata_, 233
Butterfly, 37, 125
Butterfly, beryl and jasper, 42
Butterfly, migrating, 259-263
Butterfly, Monarch, 37
Butterfly, Morpho, 51
Butterfly, Social gathering of, 268-273
Butterfly, Yellow papilio, 38
Button weed, 34
C
_Caiman sclerops_, 232
Caladium, 118
Casareep, 117
Cashew trees, 4
_Casmerodius egretta_, 249
Cassava, 116
Cassia, 44
Catfish, Giant. See Boom-boom, 22, 253, 254, 273
_Catopsilia_, species of, 268
_Cercopis ruber_, 284
_Cereus_, night blooming, 218
Chanties, 6
Chatterer, Red-breasted Blue, 38
_Chloroceryle amazona_, 97
Chloroceryle americana, 97
Cicada, 36, 37
Cicada, song of, 283
Cicada, larvæ. See _Quesada gigas_.
Clearing, Jungle, 34-57, 275
Clearing, after interval of year, 276
Coati-mundi, 29
Color, 53, 54
Convicts, 5, 7
Convicts, singing hymns, 109
_Cotinga cayana_, 52, 53
_Cotinga cotinga_, 38
Cotinga, Purple-throated, 52, 53
Cotton, Indian, 117
Cotton, Sea Island, 117
Crabs, in roots, 103
Crocodile, 232
_Crotophaga ani_, 163, 233
Cuyuni River, 9
D
Daisies, Mazaruni, 34, 280
Devilla blossoms, 283
Doodle-bugs, 28
_Doras granulosus_, 22, 254
E
Eagle, Harpy, 152
Eciton. See Army Ants
_Eciton burchelli_, 60, 289
Eggs, Butterfly, 41-43
Egrets, 233, 246, 249
_Ereops_, 264, 265
F
Fer-de-lance, 206
Flamboyant, 122
Flies, Chalcid, 292
Flies, Crane, in roots, 104-106
Flies, Phorid, 292
Flies, as scavengers, 78
_Florida c. caerulea_, 246
Flowers of boviander, 120
Flycatcher, Kiskadee, 23, 233
Flycatcher, Melancholy Tyrant, 36
Frangipani, 122
Frog, Scarlet-thighed Leaf-walker, 133
Frog, Tree, 32, 132
_Furipterus horrens_, 17, 18
G
Gallinule, 233, 242
Galis, 45-47
Garden, Akawai Indian, 115-119
Garden, Boviander, 120
Garden, Coolie and Negro, 120
Garden, Georgetown Botanical, 122, 230
Garden, Tropic, 230-251
Gawain, 31-33, 126
Gecko, 103, 104
Ghost, Kartabo, 25
God-birds, 26
Guests, Army Ant, 72
Guinevere, 123-148
_Gypagus papa_, 152
H
Hammocks, 195 accident in, 204; capturing bats from, 218-220; Carib, 197, 198; environment and dangers, 200, 201; hummingbirds on, 223, 224; slinging of, 198, 199, 203, 209, 210; sounds and scents, 213-215; trapping from, 205, 206; watching army ants from, 225, 228; weaver-birds nesting on, 224
_Harpia harpyja_, 152
Herons, green, 233
Herons, little blue, 246
Herons, night, 250
Herons, rookery, 244-251
Herons, tricolored, 246
Hope, 16
Hummingbirds, 97, 174, 223, 276
Hyacinth, water, 121
_Hydranassa tricolor_, 246
I
_Icterus chrysocephalus_, 4
_Ionornis martinicus_, 233, 242
J
Jacana, 233, 242
_Jacana j. jacana_, 233, 242
_Janipha manihot_, 116
K
Kalacoon, 1
Kartabo, 1
Kartabo, history, 10-12
Kartabo, inmates, 21
Kartabo, morning at, 23
Kib, 29
Kibihée, 29
Kingfisher, Great Green, 97
Kingfisher, Tiny Emerald, 97
Kiskadee, 23, 233, 243
Kunami, 117
Kyk-over-al, 11, 12
L
_Leucolepis m. musica_, 282
_Leucophoyx t. thula_, 233, 246
Lilies, water, 121
_Lipaugus simplex_, 58
Lotus, 121
M
Manatee, 231-236
Martins, 4
"Mazacuni" River, 107
Mazaruni River, 9
_Metachirus o. opossum_, 164
Monarch Butterfly, 37
Mongoose, 248
Monkeys, 25
Monkeys, Howling, 109
Mosquitoes, 202, 211
Mourner, Dark-breasted, 53
_Mungos mungo_, 243
N
_Nasua n. nasua_, 29
Niebelungs, 49
O
Opossum, 164
Orchid, Toko-nook, 119
Oriole, Great Black, 25
Oriole, Moriche, 4
_Ostinops d. decumanus_, 25
P
Paddlers, 5
Palm, Cocoanut, 121
_Papilio thoas_, 38
Parasite, egg, 43, 44
Parrakeets, 25, 49-51
_Pepsis_, sp., 175
Pets, 28-33
_Phoethornis r. ruber_, 174, 276
_Phyllomedusa_, 32, 126
_Phyllomedusa bicolor_, 145
_Phyllobates inguinalis_, 133
_Pitangus s. sulphuratus_, 23, 233, 243
_Pithys albifrons_, 59
Piwari, 117
Pool, Jungle Rain, 126-132
_Ptilonorhynchus violaceus_, 113
Q
Quadrille Bird, 282, 283
_Quesada gigas_, 181
R
_Ramphastus vitellinus_, 54, 55
Roach, 182
Rocks, tidal, 265, 266
Roots, 98-106, 236
_Rozites gongylophora_, 181
Rushes, 264
S
Scorpions, 181
Sedges, Scirpus, 264, 265
Servants, negro, 14, 15
_Sipanea pratensis_, 34, 280
Snake, tree, in hammock, 201
_Spermacoce_ sp., 34
Springtails, in army ants' nest, 88
Striders, water, 129, 130
Sunrise, 107, 108
Swimming at night, 108-111
_Synoeca irina_, 278-280
T
Tadpoles, 127, 130-148
Tadpoles, colors of, 146, 147
Tadpoles, red-fins, 132, 133, 136, 139, 141, 144
Tadpoles, short-tailed blacks, 132, 138
Tamandua, 174
_Tamandua t. tetradactyla_, 174
Tanager, Blue, 111
Tarantula, 23
Tarantula Hawks, 175
Termites, 154, 162
_Thecadactylus rapicauda_, 103
_Thraupis episcopus_, 111
Tidal, area, ecology of, 266-268
Toad, 7, 8
Toad, Marine, 132, 163
Toko-nook, Orchid, 119
Toucans, 25, 54, 55, 56
_Touit batavica_, 25, 49
Tree, Fallen, 95
Tree, Prostrate, reactions of, 96, 97
Treetop, Fauna of, 95
_Trichechus manatus_, 231, 233
_Troglodytes musculus clarus_, 26, 233
Trogon, 175, 280-282
_Trogan s. strigilatus_, 175
_Trogonurus c. curucui_, 280
Tyrant, Melancholy, 36
_Tyrannus melancholicus satrapa_, 36
V
_Vampyrus spectrum_, 18
Vervain, 35
_Victoria regia_, 231, 237, 240, 241
Vulture, King, 152
W
Wasps, Ebony, 175
Wasps, Painted Nest, 289-291
Wasps, Tapping, 278-280
Wind, Voice of, 21
Witch, Black, 233
Wrens, House, 26, 27, 233
* * * * *