16 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



men. You know that some beggars understand the business 

 better than others. Then, sometimes, ants simply steal 

 food from others. Of course, man wouldn't do such a thing. 



KENNETH. I don't quite understand how ants feed 

 their hungry workers. 



ANT. One opens its jaws, raises some food from its 

 crop, and passes it to the mouth of the hungry one. 



ALBERT. Do you ever feed animals that you don't like? 



ANT. Do you feed your flies and mosquitoes because 

 you like them? Or your rats, mice and insects that do 

 millions of damage to crops? Or your human robbers? 

 Yes, we feed animals we don't like, and for the same reason 

 you do. 



FLORENCE. Do your babies eat nothing but sweets? 



ANT. They eat grain, insects, and liquid food. We 

 place the babies on their backs, side by side, each in a 

 little trough in the earth floor. Then we place the grain 

 or torn-up insect on their flat abdomens and the babies 

 bend their heads forward and eat off this self-made table. 

 The babies of many harvesting ants eat the same things as 

 do the grown-ups. 



ALBERT. What are you going to do with this pile of 

 dead insects in your yard? 



ANT. You know the skeletons of bugs, sow bugs, grass- 

 hoppers and the like are on the outside of their bodies, 

 while yours is inside. We have eaten the flesh out of some 

 of these you mention. 



ALBERT. How do you get at the inside? 



ANT. We find a soft place, say at a joint, and use our 

 scissor-like jaws to make an opening. Then we use our 

 proboscis. Did you ever see the elephant drink water 

 with his proboscis? 



FLORENCE. But I wouldn't eat bugs. 



