The Outline of Science 



another. We could not have a better instance of social 

 co-operation. 



An eye-witness, Mr. L. G. Gilpin-Brown, writes from 

 Ceylon : 



Sometimes one will see an ant with a larva on its 

 mandibles stalking aimlessly about on the outside of the 

 nest. It stumbles on a small hole. It proceeds to study 

 that hole, walks all round it, walks over it, and eventually 

 decides that it really is a hole, whereupon it proceeds to 

 business. Feeling around the edge with its antennae it 

 dumps the head of the larva on one side so as to fasten the 

 thread of silk there, moves over and fastens it down on 

 the other side, comes back again, and so on; each trip leav- 

 ing a thread of silk behind until the hole is completely 

 sealed up. 



A common harvesting ant of South Europe collects 

 seeds of clover-like plants, lets them begin to sprout so that 

 the tough envelopes are burst, exposes them in the sun so 

 that the germination does not go too far, takes them back 

 underground and chews them into dough, and finally makes 

 this into little biscuits which are dried in the sun and 

 stored for winter use. What a brilliant idea and yet it 

 cannot be that! is suggested by the semi-domestication of 

 green flies by a certain species of ants! and what shall we 

 say of the slaves which others bluff into service? Many 

 white ants or termites grow highly nutritious moulds in 

 extensive, specially constructed beds of chewed wood, and 

 some of the true ants show a similar habit. 



On wayside plants in early summer we see everywhere 

 the frothy masses called cuckoo-spit, each made by a larval 

 frog-hopper which whips a little sugary sap, a little fer- 

 ment, and a little wax into a strange persistent foam, pro- 

 tective against enemies and against the heat of the sun, 

 the creature literally saving its life by blowing soap-bubbles. 

 Not far off, on a bare sandy patch, are the deep shafts sunk 

 by the grubs of the beautiful green Tiger Beetle. The 

 grub, with quaint somersault movements inside the shaft, 



