AGE OF EGGS, LARVAE, ETC. 71 



Ants Have Been on Earth a Long Time. 



ALBERT. You SHY that ants have been on earth so 

 much longer than man. How do you know? 



ANT. Because fossil ants are found in old amber and in 

 old rocks. Man hasn't been on earth long enough to have 

 a fossil a dead one. 



CECIL. Yes. Fossil ants are found in the amber of 

 Sicily and on the shores of the Baltic sea. Amber is fos- 

 silized pinewax, or fossil resin. The wax formed on the 

 pine trees that once grew in these regions. The trees 

 decayed, and the wax became buried, and then fossilized. 

 Fossil ants are found in stone, too. 



Age of Eggs, Larvae, Pupae, Workers and Queens. 



KENNETH. How long from the time an egg is laid 

 until it becomes a full-grown ant? 



ANT. That depends on the time of year, on tempera- 

 ture, and on other things, but I can give you the time for 

 the Argentine ants living in California. With that ant, it 

 takes about twenty-eight days for the egg to hatch into 

 what we call the baby, grub, maggot, worm or larva. Then, 

 in about twenty-one days more, the larva becomes a pupa. 

 In about fifteen days more, the pupa has changed to a 

 young white ant. In a few days more it has hardened up, 

 changed its color, and is ready for work. 



KENNETH. About seventy-one days from the time egg- 

 hatching begins until the young white ant appears over 

 two months. 



ANT. That young ant is pretty helpless for a few days 

 and has to be fed and attended has to be taught to walk, 

 you know, the same as man's child. 



KENNETH. Does this little troublesome Argentine spin 

 a cocoon? 



ANT. I think so, but our kind of ant doesn't. Our 

 pupae are said to be naked. 



