ANT COMMUNITIES 



have been worn clown by age and by the gritty and 

 stubborn material upon which they must labor. The 

 nurses seem to be in the prime of anthood, vigorous and 

 efficient. 



It does appear, however, that the callow antlings, just 

 out of their cocoon cases, are found among the nursing 

 squads. They lose no time in taking up their life's work 

 as helpful citizens for which they enter imagohood full 

 panoplied but fall -to where opportunity first serves, 

 and take care of their larval fellows. Until their shelly 

 bodies become well indurated, they do not usually vent- 

 ure out-of-doors, but engage in tasks to which they are 

 physically better adapted. This is a part of such educa- 

 tion as they are to receive; for ants, like children, profit 

 more by examples than by precept and criticism. The 

 models of active public servitors are before them, and 

 they simply do what all around them are doing. But 

 the whole field of labor lies open to these prentices of 

 the State, with no restrictions thereon. 



The eggs soon develop into minute larva 1 , fragile and 

 helpless things that need close and constant care to pre- 

 serve them in life. Owing to the social conditions of 

 their being, they do not have that sturdy hold on exist- 

 ence, and power to care for themselves that mark 

 solitary larva?, or such as those of moths, that are gre- 

 garious in their larval or caterpillar stage. Thus from 

 the beginning and throughout their growth and they 

 grow rapidly they must be fed and cared for. Their 

 care is always a first consideration. In the wreck of 



/ 



an ant city the workers may be seen to grasp the eggs 

 and the young, and, careless of themselves, run to and 

 fro, seeking places of refuge for their helpless charges. 

 One will see them in little heaps, often graded accord- 



164 



