MUTUAL AID AND COMMUXAL LIFE AMONG ANIMALS 393 



y 



the branch on wliicli tlie j)hinl hcc jirc ^ets withomi and dry 

 the ants liave been obser\'ecl to carry the phmt Hce earcfiiliy 

 to a fresh, green brancli. On page 374 is deserilx'd liow the 

 httle brown ant Lasius brunneus cares for the corn root plant 

 louse. In the arid kinds of New Mexico and Arizona the ants 

 rear theh* scale insects on the roots of cactus. Other kinds of 

 ants carry plant lice into their nests and provide them with frxxl 

 there. Because the ants ol)- 

 tain food from the i)lant lice 

 and take care of them, the 

 plant lice are not inaptly 

 called the ants' cattle. 



Like the honeybees, the 

 young ants are helpless 

 httle grubs or larvae, and 

 are cared for and fed by 

 nurses. The so-called ants' 

 eggs, little white, oval 

 masses, which we often 

 see being carried in the 

 mouths of ants in and out 

 of ants' nests, are not eggs, 

 but are the pupae which 

 are being brought out to 

 enjoy the warmth and light 

 of the sun or being taken 

 back into the nest after- 

 wards. 



In addition to the w^orkers that build the nest and collect 

 food and care for the plant lice, there is in many species of 

 ants a kind of individuals called soldiers. These are wingless, 

 like the workers, and are also, like the workers, not capal)le of 

 laying or of fertilizing eggs. It is the business of the soldiers, 

 as their name suggests, to fight. They protect the community 

 by attacking and driving away ])redaceous insects, especially 

 other ants. The ants are among the most warlike of in.sects. 

 The soldiers of a comnnmity of one species of ant often sally 

 forth and attack a comnnmity of some other speci(\s. If suc- 

 cessful in battle the workers of the victorious conununity take 

 possession of the food stores of tlie con<|uer(Ml ami carry them 

 to their own nest. Indeed, they go even further; they may 



Fig. 246. — Nest of the ant, Leptothorax emer- 

 soni, with the nest of another ant. .\fi/rmica 

 scahr'nuxtes. (See account on piMje 375.) 

 (After Wheeler.) 



