IX SECTS. 



'2:',] 



attention to the larvae; they carried them here and there, but present] \ 

 replaced them. More than half of the Amazons died of hunger in less 

 than two days. They had not even traced out a dwelling, and the few 

 ants still in existence were languid and without strength. 1 commiserated 

 their condition, and gave them one of their hlack companions. This indi- 

 vidual, unassisted, established order, formed a chamber in the earth, 

 gathered together the larvae* extricated several young ants that were ready 

 to quit the condition of pupae, and preserved the life of the remaining 

 Amazons.' " What an example is this to set before the sluggard ! 



In the case of other 

 forms the degeneration has W| 



proceeded still farther — 

 has almost reached the con- 

 dition of parasitism ; for 

 the slave-owners are far 

 weaker than their slaves, 

 and how they obtain these 

 useful servants is an un- 

 solved problem. Their 

 strength is gone, their jaws 

 have lost their use as of- 

 fensive weapons, and even 

 the whole group of work- 

 ers has disappeared. 



Some ants keep cattle 

 as well as slaves ; cattle 

 we may call them, from 

 the way in which they 

 have been domesticated 

 and the use to which they 

 are put. Most numerous of 

 these domesticated animals 

 are the plant-lice (Aphids), 

 but there are several others 

 which are kept in the same 

 way and for the same pur- 

 poses. The plant-lice have 

 the power of secreting a 



Fig. 222 



a 



- Plant-lice feeding on a twig . below is an ant car. - 

 phid with her antennas preparatory to sucking the noney-de* . 



sweetish substance. — honey-dew. it is called, — which exudes tin 

 short tubes near the hinder' end of the body. The flow of the honey-d 

 is under control of the aphid, and the careful observer may see the 



