These are larger in build than the laborers, and never perform
any other work than sentry duty; yet they go about with a certain
air of business, as if one were the architect and the other the
superintendent of the structure being built.
They are stationed at the mouth of the tunnel. Sometimes
enemies--other species of ants--draw near, and then the working
white ants, being but poor, defenseless creatures, blind and
unarmed, would be in danger of death were not their big fighting
comrades on guard. The soldiers rush to the rescue and, with a
few sweeps of their scythe-like jaws, clear the field. While the
attacking party is carrying off its dead, the builders,
unconscious of the fray, quietly continue at their work.
It is not only a tree here and there that exhibits the work of
the white ant, but in many places the whole forest is so colored
with dull red columns as to give a distinct tone to the
landscape. The earth tubes crumble into dust in the summer, the
clay is scattered over the country by the wind, and in this
way tends to increase and refresh the soil.
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