262 



THE POPULxlR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Their object in destroying other insects is protection of the encamp- 

 ment, and not the obtaining of food. While one section of the black 

 workers is thus engaged, a more numerous division will be found em- 

 ployed in entering the quadrangle by a diagonal line, bearing noi-th- 

 east, and carrying flowers and fragments of aromatic leaves, which 

 they deposit in the centre of the square. 



!J. 



C s 



V 



^o 



\ e 



a . 



\Ol 



A 



Fig. 3. Encampment of the Honet-making Ant {Myrmecoq/stus Mexicanus). 



The line a of the sketch shows the path of this latter section, the 

 mound of flowers and leaves being at c. This line leads to the shrubs, 

 upon which another division of the black workers is settled, engaged 

 in cutting off" the leaves and petals to be conveyed to the nest. On 

 the west side of the encampment is a hole marked d, leading to the 

 interior of the nest. It is probably intended for the introduction of 

 air, as, in case of any individuals carrying their loads into it, they im- 

 mediately emerge and carry them to the common heap, as if conscious 

 of having made a mistake. A smaller hole, near the southeast corner 

 of the square, is the only other means by which the interior can be 

 reached ; and down this aj^erture, h, the flowers gathered by the black 

 workers are carried along the line e from the heap in the centre of the 

 square, by a number of the small yellow workers, who seem adapted 

 for the gentler ofiice of nurses for the colony within. No black ant is 



I 



