392 



NATURE S TEACHINGS. 



liquid exudations from these tubercles upon the backs of the 

 aphides, and that the ants feed regularly upon it. Not only do 

 they lick up the honey-dew that has fallen from the ants, but they 

 milk them, so to speak, exactly as a dairymaid milks a cow. 

 With their antennae the ants pat and stroke the tubercles of 

 the aphides, and in a few seconds a drop of pellucid liquid 

 appears at the extremity. This is the honey-dew, and is at 

 once lapped up by the ant, which proceeds from one aphis to 

 another until it has obtained its fill of the sweet food. 



How the ants carry off the aphides, cherish and guard them 

 for the sake of their honey-dew, is a story too long to be told, 

 but it is well known among entomologists. Our English ants 

 are, however, totally eclipsed by a Mexican species, which not 

 only collects honey, but stores it in the bodies of its kindred. 



After taking precautions that no food can escape, the ants feed 

 with their sweet store their companion, who is thus doomed to 

 pass the remainder of life as a mere honey-cell. The abdomen 

 becomes spherical, smooth, and so transparent that the honey 

 tan be seen within it. It is quite air-tight, and so preserves 

 the fragance of the honey until it is wanted. 



So plentiful are these honey-ants, that they are an article of 

 commerce, and are sold by measure for the purpose of making 

 a sort of mead. There are many of them in the British 

 Museum, with the honey still within their transparent bodies, 

 and they are well worth seeing. 



THE accompanying illustration represents the artificial and 

 natural way of preserving food in an uninjured state. The 



