306 BEES AND WASPS 



the queens the wings are broken off or dropped oflf after the 

 flight associated with mating. Then the females are unable 

 to travel and remain fixed in a certain colony and furnish 

 oft'spring for the colony. A group of ants is called a formi- 

 cary. It may vary in number of individuals from a few 

 hundreds to thousands. A single queen ant may survive 

 for a great number of years and the same colony may go on 

 for many years. The usual course of the life-cycle is for 

 winged females to issue from some colony and make their 

 flight that is connected with mating, and then to burrow 

 into the ground or select a suitable nest to place the eggs 

 and begin the formation of a new colony. The fertilized 

 queen is capable of producing workers and in some cases the 

 cjueen alone will start a colony. In some forms perhaps the 

 help of other ants is needed. With the starting of the 

 colony and the deposition of eggs a colony becomes more 

 populous. Difterentiation has not gone quite so far in ant 

 colonies as in some others. The workers take care of the 

 eggs and the young and shift the young about, and if the 

 nest is disturbed they carry the pupae to a place of safety. 

 The pupse are, of course, helpless. The workers and soldiers 

 die off pretty rapidly. They survive through the working 

 period and when they die are replaced by other workers. 

 The colony retains its individuality year after year. The 

 life of the colony is probably at least as long as the life of 

 the queen and probably continues longer than that. Other- 

 wise the colony w^ould have to terminate soon after the 

 death of the queen. The multiplication of colonies is pro- 

 ^■ided for by the issuing of new queens from the colonies 

 and the ability of the ant to sur^'ive depends as much on 

 its ability to form new colonies as on new individuals. 

 There is just as much reproduction of colonies as of indi- 

 viduals. The cycle is probably for annual periods in each 

 season and the females are probably produced annually. 

 The food of the ants is primarily plant food. They collect 

 nectar and various substances of vegetable origin, and the 

 workers are responsible for the collecting and storing and 

 using of the food supply. Indirectly they get such supplies 



