^O ABOUT ANTS. 



mother, with food prepared in the stomachj 

 and the solitary insect has much to do, to find 

 food for herself and her hungry family. 



Ants eat various substances, particularly such 

 as are juicy, or contain sugar. They kill and 

 eat weaker insects, and they are very fond of 

 ripe, sweet fruit. One may be sure they will 

 always choose the best. If the pioneers can 

 not eat the whole of some plunder which they 

 have found, they carry away what they can, and 

 then bring back an army to carry off the rest. 

 They are very fond of a substance called honey- 

 dew. Ants are often seen running up and 

 down the trunks of trees, even when there la 

 no fruit on the tree to tempt them. As the 

 trees which they visit are often sickly, they are 

 supposed to do some injury. They are not at 

 all to blame, but are only going to their farms 

 to look after their cattle. The lea-^es and ten- 

 der twigs of these trees will be found to be 

 covered with small, pale-green insects, called 

 Aphides, or Plant-lice. They are often very 

 closely packed upon the leaf or stem, and they 



