NATURE'S CRAFTSMEN 



plunges into the forest of surrounding grasses. With 

 head bent towards the ground, antennae out-stretched 

 and in continual agitation, every pose and movement 

 showing intense eagerness, the worker passes from point 

 to point, now to this side, now to that, now around and 

 around, but always pushing farther into the grassy 

 jungle. It is a severe trial of one's patience to follow 

 her movements. Stooping over on hands and knees, 

 or prone upon the face, crawling slowly along with eyes 

 fixed upon the eager insect, one was sometimes led a 

 tiresome chase. 



All this while the harvester at intervals applies her 

 mouth to various objects upon the ground, most of 

 which are dropped seeds. From seed to seed she goes, 

 feeling, handling, turning, rejecting. Why this fastidi- 

 ousness? It is quite like a shopping excursion! The 

 abandoned seeds seem precisely like those which her 

 plundered sisters were carrying. Is this merely fickle- 

 ness? Or indulgence in the natural gratification of ex- 

 amining, testing, choosing? Or is she seeking, and sen- 

 sitive to some quality beyond human ken? 



At last a satisfactory seed is found. It is lifted from 

 the ground with the strong mandibles or upper jaws, 

 turned, pinched, adjusted, balanced. This is done by 

 the jaws and forefeet usually, but sometimes aided by 

 the point of the abdomen. Stiffening out the legs, the 

 body is elevated, and the abdomen swung underneath 

 until the apex touches the seed in the jaws. Thus 

 braced, the load is the better adjusted, and the insect 

 moves away. She is a good forester, with a true sense 

 of direction, and starts straight homeward. Many ob- 

 stacles are to be overcome ere she reaches the open 

 trail — pebbles, clods, bits of wood, obtruding rootlets, 



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