IN- 



SOCIAL HOMES 



night, and frequently at shorter intervals, in conse- 

 quence of sudden alteration in weather, as an unlocked 

 for shower, which will cause the workers to hurry their 

 charges away from the surface to the inner depths, or 

 should the sun become too hot in the day cells, the 

 rapidly developing nurslings have to be vigilantly 

 cleansed and fed, When full grown the majority of 

 ant-larvae spin silken cocoons around them. In this 

 state they are well known, and collected as food for 

 young pheasants. Popularly they are termed ants' 



FIG. 16. Section through the nest of the Leaf-cutting Ant CEcodoina ccphalotcs 

 from Belt. 



eggs, but how the egg could exceed the size of the 

 insect that laid it is a problem that never seems to 

 suggest itself to the nomenclators. The pupae, like the 

 larvae before them, are carried by the workers from 

 room to room, and for the same purpose. Eventually 

 their metamorphoses are almost complete, still the 

 nurses do not dare to relax their attendance upon them. 

 Without assistance the immature ant is incapable of 

 freeing itself from its covering, and would perish 

 miserably, ere it can be said to have really lived. The 

 workers, observant of the right moment, tear open the 



