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INTRODUCTION TO ZOOLOGY 



also be many smaller winged forms, which are the male 

 ants (Fig. 309, &), and several young winged queens, who, 

 however, will not normally lay eggs until they have been 

 out with the males for their "marriage flight," after which 

 they will form new nests. 



To study in detail the structure and habits of these ants, 

 the queen, a handful of workers, and some of the brood should 

 be brought home in the spring, and kept for observation 



in such a nest as that de- 

 scribed on p. 428. 



External The workers 

 Structure, are usually of 

 (a) The two sizes, the 

 Worker ' larger being 

 shown in Fig. 309, , but 

 the structure is similar in 

 both forms ; the division 

 of the body into head, 

 " thorax," and abdomen is 

 very distinct. 



C 



FIG. 309. The Yellow Meadow Ant 

 (Lasius flavus). 



a, Worker ; ft, winged male ; c, young queen. 



Fiu. 310. The Head of the 

 Wood Ant from in front. 



?)i, Mandible ; ;/, tongue. 



The head bears two compound eyes, each with about 

 eighty facets. In many ants the workers have three simple 

 eyes in addition (Fig. 310), but this is not so in the 

 Yellow Meadow Ant. There is one pair of antennae with 

 an elbow-like joint between the long basal segment and 

 the eleven-jointed terminal part. The mouth is surrounded 

 by an upper lip (labrum), two toothed lateral mandibles, 

 which can be moved independently of the other mouth- 



