26 ANTS AND CHILDREN OF THE GARDEN 



them in piles. Different ages require different tempera- 

 tures. 



DOROTHY. I suppose the old ants act as nurses. 



ANT. Until their bodies are hardened enough for regu- 

 lar work, young ants often attend the babies. They also 

 carry or guard the babies on the trail when the family is 

 moving. The smallest ants of a colony often act as nurses, 

 too. 



DOROTHY. I want to see you when you move. AVhen 

 that happens I want to see the parade of kings, queens, 

 workers, young ants, children, babies, eggs, seed carriers 

 yes, and your menagerie, too. You'll look like a trail of 

 "Forty-niners." 



FLORENCE. They say the babies of some ants are cov- 

 ered with hair. Of what use is it? 



ANT. Hairs are often used to keep the babies warm ; 

 to keep hungry ones from eating their sisters; to keep the 

 bodies from touching the ground ; to stick a number of 

 babies together when an ant wants to carry several at a 

 time ; to hang the babies up on the wall with when the 

 hairs are hooked at the end; to help get the young out of 

 the cocoon by moving back and forth. Oh, I don't know 

 what all that the hairs are used for. 



Pupae. 



DOROTHY. At first the baby is a big eater and then it 

 quits to grow legs and feelers. What's its name after it's 

 too old to be called a baby? 



ANT. It is called a "pupa." I've heard people call a 

 cocoon an egg, but it isn't. 



FLORENCE. How can legs, feelers and wings (of kings 

 and queens) grow if the pupa doesn't eat anything? 



ANT. The baby (larva) eats enough for itself and also 



