HEAT AND COLD 107 



FLORENCE. What about winter time? 



ANT. Most ants get stiff and sluggish below sixty de- 

 grees. They eat and move about but little then. Even in 

 southern California we don't work much in winter time. 

 If short of food, we might go out after some on warm days. 



FLORENCE. I know an ant may be frozen and thaw 

 out and be as good as new, but how much heat can an 

 ant stand? 



ANT. This was tried by Miss Fielde, a well-known natu- 

 ralist, and the ants swooned at 96 degrees and died at 112. 

 So, if you hold us over a hot stove we die. 



KENNETH. I've seen ants out here when it was hotter 

 than that next to the ground, especially Honey ants. Lay 

 your thermometer on the ground at noon and see how 

 much hotter it is where the ant's head is than where yours 

 is. When carrying out dirt in the hot sun, the ants make 

 mighty good time in getting back into the house. 



ALBERT. We seldom have a hot desert wind here, but 

 we've been having one for three days, and you've been 

 closing your doors at 6 :30 in the morning, instead of 9 :CO, 

 the usual time. During the last hot wind you kept your 

 doors open all day. 



CECIL. The speed at which ants travel depends en- 

 tirely on temperature, according to Prof. Harlow Shaplej- 

 of the Harvard Observatory. I think the same is true of 

 the rate of motion of jaws and other parts of an ant 

 even in battle. 



