636 THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



lick the workers, and the conclusion was forced upon us 

 that there was stored up within the stomach of the queen a 

 supply of food, which was regurgitated and fed to the larvae. 

 It should be noted that this first brood of workers consists 

 of very small individuals, of the type known as worker- 

 minor. 



The term queen, as applied to the individual at the head 

 of a colony of ants, is a misnomer, for among social insects 

 the queens do not rule ; they are merely the mothers of 

 their colonies. The queen ant is not jealous, like the queen 

 bee, but may live in peace in the same dwelling with several 

 other queens. She is always an object of extreme devotion 

 to her attendants, who feed her and care for her eggs as soon 

 as she lays them. 



The larvae of ants are white and legless ; most species 

 spin cocoons when ready to pupate, but some do not. The 

 oblong, egg-shaped bodies, which may be seen in any ant's 

 nest, and which are often mistaken by the careless observer 

 for eggs, are these cocoons. The eggs are so small that 

 they escape observation unless careful search is made for 

 them. The larvae are efficiently cared for by the workers, 

 who carry them about and put them in the warmer parts of 

 the nest and feed them. When the adults issue from the 

 cocoons their nurses help them out carefully ; and they un- 

 fold the legs and smooth out the wings of new-fledged roy- 

 alty with tenderest solicitude. The workers are by far the 

 most interesting portion of the ant colony, as they do all 

 the work, feed the colony, build and defend the nests, care 

 for the young and for the stock, and carry on the wars. 

 The workers are undeveloped females, which very rarely lay 

 eggs, and as the eggs of workers always develop into males, 

 the presence of a queen is necessary for the perpetuation of 

 the life of a colony. For this reason, as the queens grow old 

 the workers find young queens at the swarming season, 

 bring them into their nests, and adopt them as successors to 

 the old queens. 



