248 ELEMENTARY STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE 



on the under glass, about the thickness of the thin strips 

 of wood ; then break a corner off the upper glass and 

 place it on the top of the layer of sand and strips. 



Now yon are ready for the ants. The object, you 

 see, is to have a place where the ants cannot get away, 

 and yet where they can have some freedom and a home 

 which will be open for your inspection. That they may 

 live in the dark when not under observation, it will 

 be necessary for you to cover this glass house with a 

 board. The board can be lifted from time to time and 

 the workings inside observed. You will readily see, 

 also, that it will be necessary to have the right amount 

 of earth or sand, else, if there is too much, the workings 

 and tunnelings will be beneath the surface. 



Ants are not hard to find under surface rocks, logs, 

 and in old stumps. In quest of these, a garden trowel 

 and covered tin bucket are the only things necessary. 

 In collecting ants to establish in homes there is one 

 form necessary - - that is the queen ant, easily recog- 

 nized by her large size. When she is found it is a small 

 matter to collect a number of workers, their eggs, larva? 

 and pupa?. Place earth, rubbish and all, in your bucket, 

 cover them and bring them to the artificial nest ; pour 

 the whole mass on the upper pane of glass, remove the 

 surface rubbish by degrees, and soon the ants will begin 

 to work their way between the panes of glass through 

 the broken corner which you have left as an opening 

 for them. 



Colonies inhabiting hollow r branches of sumac or 

 elder are easily transferred. On one occasion a baking- 

 powder can containing a hollow sumac knot, the home 

 of a full colony of ants, was brought to the laboratory. 



