58 JUNGLE ISLAND 



from each room to the fresh air. Often from the 

 deeper rooms shafts run down into the ground, 

 perhaps to carry off water in case of a heavy rain. 

 The underground nest must be well drained. 



In the nest the Atta returning with his leaf sail 

 finds two other kinds of Attas. The larger one, 

 much bigger than the leaf carrier, is a soldier with 

 a well-helmeted head. His long jaws are strong 

 enough to bring blood from one's finger. He never 

 goes outside the nest unless it is attacked. It is 

 his job to stay at home and protect it. 



The other Atta is much smaller. Sometimes 

 he may come out of the nest, and if you look 

 carefully you may see him riding home again on 

 a leaf sail carried by a larger worker. 

 ■ When the leaf carrier has brought his load 

 safely down into one of the big rooms, he sets 

 to work cutting it into smaller pieces, often helped 

 by the workers that live in the nest. With their 

 jaws and feet they make the leaf into a soft little 

 ball, which is stacked away at one side with 

 other leaf balls. The rooms are nearly full of 

 these piles. Very few ants are so careless as to 

 drop their leaves around unchewed. 

 . Perhaps you think the ants are making hay to 

 be eaten after it ripens. People used to think so, 

 but they had not looked closely enough. These 

 chewed-up masses of leaves are really garden beds 

 on which the ants plant the kind of mushroom on 

 which they live. 



