244 



THE BIOLOGY OF INSECTS 



the workers *' to transport large numbers with little effort," 

 as Wheeler remarks. It is likely also that the hairy covering 

 of an ant-grub protects its body from injury when seized by 

 the jaws of a worker. Most ant-grubs are fed by the 

 workers with disgorged liquid food, and in such the man- 

 dibles are feeble. In some groups, however, the grubs are 

 fed on insects and are provided with fairly strong jaws. 



Fig. 62. — a. Full-grown larva of Ant, Tetroponera tessmatini, West 

 Africa. Side view, b, young larva of Pachysima aethiops, West Africa. 

 Side view (e, exudatorium) . c, full-grown larva of P. aethiops, ventral 

 view. Magnified. After W. M. Wheeler {Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. Ivii, 

 1918). 



Wheeler has described (191 8) how in certain American 

 Ponerine ants the larvae are fed lying on their backs, the 

 workers depositing bitten-up insects on the ventral surface 

 of the body of each grub, which then pours out a copious 

 salivary secretion ; this serves to digest the grub's own 

 meal and to provide a nutritious draught for its nurse. As 

 already mentioned, most ant-larvae exude from the body- 

 surface a sweet fluid which the workers lick up. Wheeler 



