INSECTS 253 



be made and the whole colony studied in the schoolroom or at 

 home.^ 



Ants are the most truly communal of all the insects. Their life 

 history and habits are not so well known as those of the bee, but 

 what is known shows even more wonderful specialization. The in- 

 habitants of a nest may consist of wingless workers, which in some 

 cases may be of two kinds, and winged males and females. 



Ant larvse are called grubs. They are absolutely helpless and 

 are taken care of by nurses. The pupae may often be seen taken 

 out in the mouths of the nurse ants for sun and air. They are 

 mistakenly called ants' eggs in this stage. 



The colonies consist of underground galleries with enlarged 

 storerooms, nurseries, etc. The ants are especially fond of honey- 

 dew secreted by the aphids or plant lice. Some species of ants 

 provide elaborate stables for the aphids, commonly called ants' 

 cows, supplying with food and shelter and taking the honeydew 

 as their reward. This they obtain by licking it from the body of 

 the aphids. A western form of ant, found in New Mexico and 

 Arizona, rears a scale insect on the roots of the cactus for this 

 same purpose. 



It is probable that some species of ants are among the most 

 warlike of any insects. In the case of the robber ants, which live 

 entirely by war and pillage, the workers have become modified in 



1 A successful nest for the schoolroom is made and described by Miss Adele M. 

 Fielde. See the Biological Bulletin, Vol. VII, No. 4, September, 1904. 



The floor of the nest is a pane of window glass six by ten inches. Build a wall 

 by cementing with crockery cement four half-inch strips of thicker glass, and upon 

 these cement four more strips, making the wall at least one quarter of an inch high. 

 The space inside is divided by one or two partitions built the same as the outer wall. 

 Spaces should be allowed for communication between chambers. The whole outer 

 surface of the nest thus made may be covered with black paper to make it opaque. 

 A lining of Turkish toweling is glued to the top of the wall. The cover, which 

 rests on the toweling, should be either of glass made opaque, or better, of glass 

 (such as ruby glass of dark rooms) that will exclude most of the ultra-violet light 

 rays. It is best to provide a separate roof for eacli chamber. Ants need moisture, 

 so that a small bit of moist sponge should be kept in the room where the ants live. 

 The food chamber, where bits of cake, banana, apple, or other food mixed with 

 honey or molasses, are placed, should also be kept moist. 



To stock such a nest, dig up a small colony and transfer them, along with some 

 earth, to the schoolroom. To separate the ants from the earth place them with the 

 earth on a little island of wood in a basin of water. On one side of the island 

 place a glass plate and shade this plate by a piece of opaque paper raised slightly 

 above the glass. The ants soon remove themselves and their young to the dark 

 area and may then be transferred to the nest. Ant colonies have been kept for 

 three or four years in such a nest. 



