THE YELLOW ANT. 47 



occupation to lick them over and over, cleansing every part 

 of the body, and keeping it in a state of the most perfect 

 whiteness. This care commences with the extrusion of 

 the larva from the egg, and ceases not until it is about to 

 assume the ensuing state of pupa or nymph. 



As soon as the insect is sufficiently mature to issue 

 from the cocoon into which we have before traced it, the 

 assistance of the labourers is again required. The pupae 

 of ants, unlike those of other insects, know not how to es- 

 cape from their self-wrought shroud, by moistening its 

 texture and cutting it with their mandibles. They scarcely 

 possess sufficient strength to enable them to move. The 

 cocoon in which they are enclosed is of too compact a 

 texture, and of too strong a material, for the unassisted 

 prisoner to tear it open. How the indefatigable assistants 

 ascertain the exact period when it requires to be liberated, 

 remains, and ever must remain, a profound secret. They 

 may be observed mounting on a cocoon when its occupant 

 has arrived at maturity ; they may be seen scraping away 

 the silken texture, and, having inserted their mandibles into 

 the aperture, using them as we use a pair of scissors, cut- 

 ting across the cocoon in a direct line. 



At the period of emancipating the winged ants a great 

 deal of excitement prevails in the nest. Some of the la- 

 bourers may be seen arduously at work, in the operation 

 of cutting open a cocoon, while others with great gentle- 

 ness are drawing through the aperture the newly-born 

 mother of a future colony. The labour of these assiduous 

 attendants does not end here ; for when the perfect ant is 

 at last drawn from its cocoon, it is not in a state to take 

 its flight and provide for itself; on the contrary, it is weak 

 and helpless, and every part of its body and limbs is 

 swathed in a delicate satiny membrane or skin, which has 

 to be carefully removed before it can even stand upon its 



