ii ON ANIMAL LIFE 67 



One kind of slave-making Ant has be- 

 come so completely dependent on their slaves, 

 that even if provided with food they will die 

 of hunger, unless there is a slave to put it 

 into their mouth. I found, however, that 

 they would thrive very well if supplied with 

 a slave for an hour or so once a week to clean 

 and feed them. 



But in many cases the community does not 

 consist of Ants only. They have domestic 

 animals, and indeed it is not going too far to 

 say that they have domesticated more animals 

 than we have. Of these the most important 

 are Aphides. Some species keep Aphides on 

 trees and bushes, others collect root-feeding 

 Aphides into their nests. They serve as cows 

 to the Ants, which feed on the honey-dew 

 secreted by the Aphides. Not only, more- 

 over, do the Ants protect the Aphides them- 

 selves, but collect their eggs in autumn, 

 and tend them carefully through the winter, 

 ready for the next spring. Many other insects 

 are also domesticated by Ants, and some of 

 them, from living constantly underground, 



