168 HOUSEHOLD INSECTS 



as they are laid to other chambers and zealously care 

 for them. Many insects never see their young; others 

 may see them, but do not care for them ; others, like the 

 bees and wasps, put food into the gaping mouths of their 

 young, but have no further association with them. The 

 ants, however, stand alone among insects in their very 

 intimate relations with their progeny from the egg to 

 the adult. Some of the chambers in the nest are reserved 

 for the eggs, some for the larvae, and some for the pupae. 

 If, as often happens, the eggs, larvae, and pupae are all in 

 one chamber, then they are each grouped by themselves 

 in separate piles, reminding one, as Lubbock says, "of 

 a school divided into five or six classes." In the simpler 

 and more primitive ants this grouping and separation may 

 not be so distinct. The ants are constantly transferring 

 their young from one part of the nest to another in search 

 of the right degree of moisture and temperature. In the 

 warm part of the day the young will be transferred to 

 near the surface, but at night will be carried down again 

 away from the cool air. The ants are constantly cleaning 

 the young, caring for the eggs to prevent mold from grow- 

 ing on them, helping the callow ants to emerge from their 

 cocoons, bringing food, cleaning, enlarging, and recon- 

 structing the nest, and doing thousands of things con- 

 tributing to the comfort, growth, and happiness of the 

 community. 



RELATION OF ANTS TO OTHER INSECTS AND PLANTS 



It has been argued, and many observations have been 

 offered to show that there is a most intimate relation 

 between ants and many kinds of plants. Certain authors 



