IV SOCIAL HOMES 123 



be succeeded by heavy showers, the ants hasten to 

 prevent catastrophe by the re-establishment of the 

 barriers, and every member appears willingly to give 

 its quota of help to speedily accomplish the work in 

 hand. 



The formation of a nest may be traced from the 

 beginning by brief close investigation into the state of 

 society of a large community during the early months 

 of summer. Here, in addition to the presence of the 

 vast multitude of wingless worker ants, and some 

 females now in like condition, a certain number of 

 young winged males and females are all ready and 

 eager to escape from home. Soon after their birth, 

 taking advantage of a favourable opportunity, usually 

 on some warm still afternoon, they adventure out. 

 Some of the females, or so-called ' queens,' are com- 

 pelled to return, and having torn off their wings 

 which are no longer of use, with the assistance of the 

 workers, they settle down to an unintermitting seden- 

 tary existence, replenishing the population of the only 

 abode they will ever know. Other females while in 

 this comparatively helpless condition are conveyed by 

 workers to new situations, where they become the 

 founders of new colonies. 



In effecting the establishment of a colony, the little 

 company at first betake themselves to mining. With 

 their mandibles they set arduously to work, until 

 by dint of prolonged and strenuous labour a cavity in 

 the earth is formed. Meanwhile some of the future 

 inhabitants of the nest may be seen wandering about 

 the vicinity in search of building-stuffs for the 

 exterior. Scrap after scrap is gathered, and laid over 



