NATURE'S CRAFTSMEN 



length, except towards the apex, where they are shorter. 

 They are pointed at the free end and enlarged at the 

 base, are stiff but elastic, and spring back when bent, 

 as do the teeth of a comb. 



The efficiency of this instrument is greatly increased 

 by an arrangement of the tarsus, opposite whose base 

 it is placed. That part of the leg is so shaped that the 

 curved outlines of the tibial spur when pushed up 

 against it fit into it. It is furnished with about forty- 

 five teeth, coarser and more open than those just de- 

 scribed. Thus ants have the useful arrangement of 

 fine and coarse toothed combs which for toilet uses are 

 practically united in one instrument. A further con- 

 tribution to the toilet paraphernalia is a secondary 

 spur, a simpler form of that on the fore legs, set upon 



the tibiae of the second and 

 third pairs of legs. More- 

 over, the mandibles, or up- 

 per jaws, which are palm- 

 shaped and serrated, are 

 used freely, especially in 

 cleaning the legs, which are 

 drawn through them while 

 loosely held between them. 

 In this action there is a sali- 

 vary secretion that moist- 

 ens the members, and fur- 

 nishes a good substitute 

 for those "washes" which 

 are valued by men and women as softening the hair 

 and making it more pliable. Indeed, one might almost 

 conjecture that it is also the emmet equivalent for our 



toilet soaps ! 



66 



TOILET ACCESSORIES OF ANTS 



(greatly magnified) 



a, secondary spur or comb 



b, teeth of tibial comb 



