38 LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD. 



served a drop of fluid issue from its body, which 

 the ant immediately drank. It then went to a 

 large one, which it tapped in the same way, 

 and which yielded a larger drop than the first ; 

 then to a third, and so on, until it had thus tap- 

 ped and drunk from seven or eight of its tiny 

 cows, when it appeared to have satisfied its 

 hunger. This fluid is the honey dew which 

 the insect obtains from the plant on which it 

 feeds. 



Ants have the power of throwing from their 

 bodies a very strong smell, which, it is supposed, 

 greatly assists them in finding their way back to 

 their nests, after the long journies which they 

 sometimes make in search of food. It is believed 

 they scent the track, and return by the same 

 road over which they came. 



Although ants appear to live in much har- 

 mony in their own families, they defend them- 

 selves vigorously when attacked, biting severely, 

 and throwing poison into the wound. Most 

 insects have been provided by their Creator 

 with some means of self-defence. They are not 

 capable of reasoning with each other as we are ; 

 and as they are constantly liable to meet with 

 injuries from which they could not be otherwise 



