ANTIRRHINUM 



ANTS 



305 



long-tubular, with spreading, very irregular lobes, in an 

 elongated terminal spike or raceme. In many colors 

 and varieties (ranging from red and purple to white), in 

 forms both tall and dwarf. Medit. region; sometimes 

 running wild about gardens. A.F. 9:909; 13:949. I.H. 

 41:22. A.G. 17:379. F.E. 7:711. There are double 



forms. Some of the 

 varietal names used 

 by horticulturists are 

 album, bicolar, cocti- 

 neum, procerum, 

 piimilum, variegatum. 

 Peloric forms are 

 reported, with regular 

 corolla and the much- 

 reflexed limb 5-7- 

 lobed. Gt. 53: 1524. 



AA. Plant erect, peren- 

 nial and shrubby: 

 fls. about 1 in. 

 long. 



speciosum, Gray. 

 Three to 4 ft., some- 

 what pubescent, leafy : 

 Ivs. oval or oblong, 

 short-petioled, thick: 

 fls. scarlet or pink- 

 red, the corolla-tube 

 three times length of 

 the lips (which are 

 narrow). S. and Lower 

 Calif., on the islands. 



AAA. Plant trailing 

 or procumbent, 

 perennial, with 

 small fls.; used 

 mostly in rock- 

 gardens. June, 

 July. 



Asarina, Linn. 

 Grayish-clammy, pro- 

 cumbent: Ivs. 5-lobed, cordate, crenate, long-petioled: 

 fls. axillary, solitary, white and sometimes tinged red, 

 the palate yellow. S. \V. Eu. 



sempervirens, Lapeyr. Procumbent, woolly, small: 

 fls. white with purple blotch. Pyrenees. 



glutindsum, Boiss. & Reut. Prostrate, glandular- 

 pilose: Ivs. alternate, elliptic to elliptic-ovate, short- 

 petioled: fls. pale yellowish white, the lip striped red. 

 Spain. B.M. 7285. 



AAAA. Plant climbing, perennial. 

 maurandioides, Gray (Maurdndia antirrhiniflbra, 

 Willd.). Fig. 229. Climbing 2-6 ft. by means of the 

 coiling petioles and peduncles: Ivs. 3-lpbed, halberd- 

 shape: fls. axillary, 1 in. or more long, violet or purple, 

 handsome. Texas to Calif. B.M. 1643. Attractive 

 plant for the window, cool greenhouse or conservatory. 

 Suitable for baskets. L_ jj g 



ANTROPHYUM (Greek, growing in caverns). Poly- 

 podidccse. A genus of simple-lvd. herbaceous ferns, 

 rarely found in cult. Native in tropics, in damp forests. 

 All the species are epiphytes, and not of commercial 

 value except as rarities. Require high temp. 



ANTS, Their Habits, Activities, Injuries and Control. 

 Various kinds of ants are troublesome to gardeners; 

 and all the ants are most interesting animals. 



The ants belong to the same great group of insects 

 (Hymenoptera) that contains the wasps, bees, sawflies, 

 and others; and like the honey bee and common wasps 

 are congregate in their habits of living. The abdomen 

 of all the common ants is attached to the thorax by a 



20 



227. Antirrhinum Orontium. ( X J0 



slender waist, or peduncle; and each segment (there 

 may be one or two) of this peduncle is expanded on the 

 top side and forms a lens, or button-shaped knot, a 

 character that distinguishes ants from all other insects. 

 Everyone is familiar with ants; they occur in all 

 lands and all regions, from the dry deserts to the damp 

 forests, from the timber line of mountains to the lowest 

 valleys and among the dwellings and habitations of 

 man. They seem to thrive in all kinds of environment 

 and multiply enormously, so that they outnumber all 

 other terrestrial animals. 



The nature of an ant colony. 



Ants are social; that is, they live in colonies or com- 

 munities where every individual ant works for the good 

 of the whole and not for itself alone. A colony of ants 

 furnishes an illustration of a more perfect communistic 

 society than any ever established by man, and perhaps 

 a more amicable one than any he will ever be able to 

 organize. 



In a typical colony of ants, there are at least three 

 kinds of individuals, the queen, the males, and the work- 

 ers. The queen is not the ruler but the mother of the 

 colony. Her only business seems to be to lay eggs which 

 hatch into workers and other forms to take the places 

 of those that disappear or die, thus maintaining the 

 full and continuous strength of the community. When 

 the queen comes forth from the pupal stage, she has 

 wings which she retains until after the swarming period. 

 After the swarming flight is over and the queen alights, 

 her wings fall off or are torn off by herself or workers 

 and from that time she remains wingless. In some 

 species of ants there may be modified forms of the 

 queen, for example, giant queens, dwarf queens, worker- 

 like queens, and other forms. 



The males, which have wings, exist only to mate 

 with the queens, and after the swarming period is over 

 they eventually die. The males 

 are also often modified into giant 

 males, dwarf males, worker-like 

 males, and other forms. 



The workers, which are un- 

 developed females, are wingless 

 and constitute the great major- 

 ity of individuals that we see 

 running about in the vicinity of 

 an ant-nest. The workers are 

 just what their title implies. 

 They do the work of the com- 

 munity, build the nest, keep it 

 clean, care for and procure food 

 for the queen and larvae, care 

 for the eggs, fight the battles, 

 and so forth. The workers may 

 exist under several different 

 forms. One especially inter- 

 esting form has a very large 

 head and strong jaws, thus fit- 

 ting it for war -like functions. 

 Ants of this form are known 

 as the soldiers. 



The nests and activities of ants. 



The nests of ants, in a general _ 

 way, consist merely of 

 a system of passage- 

 ways or cavities com- 

 municating with each 

 other and connected to 

 the outside world with 

 one or more openings. 

 There are some species 

 of ants that live below 

 the surface of the earth 

 and have no openings 228. Young spike of a dwarf form 

 from their nests into of Antirrhinum ma jus. ( x H) 



