knt. There are usually several chambers from 

 which are connecting passages. The eggs, very 

 young larvae, older larvae, pupse. may be placed in 

 separate chambers, or if in one large irregular cham- 

 ber, then they are put into separate groups. As 

 one would expect, the more primitive ants have 

 simpler nests. The ants are continually moving the 

 brood, bringing certain groups either higher up or 

 taking them lower dow^n, according to the weather 

 conditions. 



We have found nests in rather curious places. 

 One nest was formed under a small pot with a fern 

 growing in it. Part of the nest was in the ground 

 under the pot and part of it was in the soil of the 

 pot. We took the earth from the pot (it came out 

 clean), and on gently breaking it across saw the 

 passages with groups of larvae, pupae, and very tiny 

 eggs, w^hich the ants w^ere quickly removing into 

 the recesses of the mass of soil and roots. 



One ant colony was happy in a half hollowed 

 out potato where the irregular inner surface served 

 as "rooms" for pupae and larvae. The ants lived 

 here for months, for the potato was sheltered by 

 the dense mass of dead leaves of a yucca ]:)lant. 



Another curious nest was found in a large woody 

 gall that was hollowed out at the apex. It was 

 a very small colony of tiny black ants, and they 

 lived here for nearly i8 months with very little 

 food supply. Then the gall was knocked over and 

 the family scattered. 



On the Blue Mountains we found many nests 

 of ants at the base of tiny shrubs which were in- 



