136 ROMANCE OF THE INSECT WORLD CHAP. 



one to thirty-six square feet. From this central plat- 

 form, as it were, broad and similarly clean paths 

 or avenues branch off into the encircling vegeta- 

 tion, they gradually narrow, and almost imperceptibly 

 blend with the vacant spots between tufts of 

 grass. In number these paths are usually three or 

 four, sometimes there are as many as seven, with a 

 width at their entrance upon the disk frequently of two 

 and a half to three inches, occasionally enlarging to 

 five or six. A hole within the disk leads to the sub- 

 terranean regions, which include store-rooms for the 

 seed, nurseries, and other chambers, their arrangement 

 being more or less in stories. 



Extraordinary must be the labour on the part of 

 these insects in effecting the removal of the rank 

 vegetation of the country from the bounds and 

 approaches of their nest. The weeds stand in a well- 

 nigh perfect circle around the circumference of the 

 cleared space. Tufts of grass, wild sage, the daisy, 

 and such-like sturdy growths are there, with stalks at 

 times as thick as one's thumb, and over two feet 

 high. The plucky beings appear to bite, and saw, 

 and twist, and tug at the leaves and stems until they 

 are severed and can be borne away (see Fig. 19). Pre- 

 sumably, the avenues are denuded in similar fashion. 

 During the winter months, when many of these ants 

 retire under ground, the clearings fall into sad disrepair, 

 and the weeds intrude, to be as vigorously expelled 

 in the following spring, when warmth once more 

 recalls the workers to set all things in order. The 

 use of the pavements is doubtless to facilitate entrance 

 to, and exit from, the home, so as to reduce the 



