76 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



ture quite under the clod of earth, upon the board 

 of the mantel-piece, and thither she forthwith 

 carried her eggs. The subsequent proceedings 

 were not less interesting ; for though I carefully 

 moistened the earth every day, she regularly 

 changed the situation of the eggs morning and 

 evening, placing them in the original cell at 

 night, and on the board under the clod during the 

 day, as if she understood the evaporation to be so 

 great when the sun was up, that her eggs might 

 be left dry before night. I regret to add, that 

 during my absence the glass had been removed 

 and the mother escaped, having carried away all 

 her eggs but one or t\vo, which soon shrivelled up." 

 Our diligent little exemplars, the ants, are 

 equally careful about their eggs. So soon as 

 they are produced, the ants catch them up and 

 convey them to a separate chamber, moisten- 

 ing them with their tongues, and incessantly 

 turning them backwards and forwards. They are 

 the objects of constant solicitude until they are 

 hatched; they are carried hither and thither 

 according as the temperature of the nest varies. 

 On a sunny morning they are brought out and 

 laid to bask in the warm air; but if the sky 



