21 JANUARY 1928, Page 19

THE BULL-DOG ANTS OF AUSTRALIA [To the Editor of the

SPECTATOR.]

Sni,"—A review in this week's Spectator, under the heading "Sins and Splendours of Antdom," contains the sentence : "Among them (ants) we may still find primitive and warlike races, like the Bull-dog ants of Australia, which are an inch in length and can jump up as high as a man's knee to sting him."

I should like to know upon what authority the latter part of that statement is based, for I have observed Bull-dog ants for years in their natural environment, and do not believe that they can jump even half as high as a man's knee, nor that they jump to attack man. My experience, including being stung scores of times, is that the pugnacious insects run to the attack, and seldom leap more than a few inches.—