ANTS 151 



With the exception of their own kind, ants have 

 very few enemies. 



The larv^e of ant lions either wait in the sand or 

 build little pits in the sand and seize any luckless 

 L ant, passing that way. 



p The Echidna or Spiny Ant-eater also feeds on 

 r ants, and their eggs. It has a long slender tongue 

 which is covered with sticky saliva and this en- 

 ables it to capture numbers of ants. 



The Marsupial Mole and the Banded Anteater 

 also feed on ants. 



Mymecophiles or Ant Lovers. — These are a vari- 

 ety of little creatures which inhabit ant colonies 

 either in a state of commensalism (for mutual good), 

 as parasites, or as scavengers. 



We have mentioned such insects as aphids and 

 scales which give off secretion pleasing to ants, and 

 in return are protected by the very presence of the 

 ants (for ants have few enemies). The aphids are 

 the most commonly known, and are often called 

 *'ants' cows," for some species of ants store the 

 eggs of aphids during the winter weather, and when 

 the spring comes and the aphids hatch out, they 

 carry them out to their food plant or "pastures," 

 and then in return gather the honey dew given off 

 at the tip of the abdomen. Some ants specially 

 protect aphids which feed on the roots of plants, 

 and these species place the aphids in the ant nest 

 c't night and carry them on to the roots in the day- 

 time. 



There are some species of beetles which live in 

 the ants' nests, some being harmless, and live on 



