4NTS 3 01 



return to the nest from which they came. Not rarely 

 one may find an impregnated female, or queen mother, 

 recognizable by her large size, occupying a small 

 cavity under a stone. She has removed her wings, as 

 though to prevent all temptation to leave home and 

 duty. She waits patiently for her eggs to mature, and 

 at length lays them in a small group. From them 

 hatch the larvae or grubs, which are fed with a secre- 

 tion produced by the mother. It may be months 

 before this first brood has been produced and reared to 

 maturity, and in the meanwhile the female not only 

 takes no food, but feeds her young at the expense of 

 her own substance. The individuals thus produced 

 are small workers, and it is now their duty and occupa- 

 tion to go forth from the nest on excursions, to hunt 

 for food for themselves and their exhausted parent. 

 In this they are successful, being guided by suitable 

 instincts, and when the queen is properly fed she pro- 

 ceeds to lay many more eggs. She may live to be 

 fifteen years old, continually producing eggs, but after 

 raising her first brood taking no more interest in the 

 young. These latter are now fed by the workers, who 

 assume all the duties connected with the colony, except 

 that of producing eggs. With time, the nest or colony 

 becomes more populous and more prosperous, and like a 

 city, it appears to be able to continue almost indefinitely. 



The majority of ants nest in the soil, but many, Ants' nests 

 especially in tropical countries, live in nests built in 

 trees, or occupy cavities in the stems of plants or in 

 galls. In Mexico and Central America we find acacia 

 trees with remarkable enlarged thorns which are hollow 

 and are inhabited by ants. 



4. The ants are not the only inhabitants of their 

 nests. Just as human habitations shelter domesti- 



