INSECT HERDS AND HERDERS 



Thronging, yes; preying upon, no! Look more close- 

 ly! Your rose-bushes are infested by certain small 

 insects known to entomologists as aphides, but to you 

 by the homelier name of "plant-lice." They, not the 



ANTS COLLECTING HONEYDEW FROM AN APHID HERD 



roses nor the bushes, are the objects of the ants' atten- 

 tion. They are the so-called "ant-cows," and if you 

 like you may see the milking! 



As one case will give a fair measure of the whole range 

 of habit, I ask readers to follow me in a special study 

 made of this mode of feeding among the mound-making 

 ants of the Alleghanies {Formica exsectoides Forel), whose 

 vast communities, centred within their large conical 

 mounds, has been described in the preceding chapter. 



We take our stand before this large mound, which is 

 astir with thousands of insects hurrying to and fro in 

 the various industries of the commune. Issuing from 



41 



