MISCELLANEOUS ANIMALS 



415 



Ants. — No insects, excepting the honeybees, have 

 proved more interesting to study than the ants. Turn 

 over a flat stone any time after the middle of May and 

 you are almost certain to find a colony of ants. As the 

 stone is lifted, if the day be warm, you will see little piles 

 of whitish oblong bodies, — the pupae, — commonly called 



Fig. 167. Cow Elk 

 The lumps in the skin are caused by botflies. (Copyright by Charles Irving Rice) 



eggs ; and immediately the workers seize them and hasten 

 to carry them down into the nest. Besides these you may 

 often find smaller masses of shining black eggs. These, 

 probably eggs of plant lice, the workers also carry into 



