ANTS 165 



that disappear or die, thus maintaining the full and con- 

 tinuous strength of the community. When the queen 

 comes forth from the pupal stage she has wings which 

 she retains until after the swarming period. After the 

 swarming flight is over and the queen alights, her wings 

 fall off or are torn off by herself or workers and from that 

 time she remains wingless. In some species of ants there 

 may be modified forms of the queen ; for example, giant 

 queens, dwarf queens, worker-like queens, and other forms. 



The males, which have wings, exist only to mate with 

 the queens, and after the swarming period is over they 

 eventually die. The males are also often modified into 

 giant males, dwarf males, worker-like males, and other 

 forms. 



The workers, which are undeveloped females, are 

 wingless and constitute the great majority of individuals 

 that we see running about in the vicinity of an ant nest. 

 The workers are just what their title implies. They do 

 the work of the community, build the nest, keep it clean, 

 care for and procure food for the queen and larvae, care 

 for the eggs, fight the battles, and perform other functions. 

 The workers may exist under several different forms. One 

 especially interesting form has a very large head and 

 strong jaws, thus fitting it for war-like functions. Work- 

 ers thus modified are known as the soldiers. 



THE STRUCTURE OF ANTS 



Like other insects, the body of an ant is composed of 

 three chief divisions, head, thorax, and abdomen. The 

 abdomen of all of our common ants, at least, consists of two 

 rather distinct parts ; a slender anterior portion consisting 



