THE ATTAS AT HOME 189 



fungus, and here it is carefully guarded until 

 the time comes for its propagation in the new 

 nest. 



When she has descended to earth and exca- 

 vated a little chamber, she closes the entrance, 

 and for forty days and nights labors at the found- 

 ing of a new colony. She plants the little fun« 

 gus cutting and tends it with the utmost solici- 

 tude. The care and feeding in her past life have 

 stored within her the substance for vast numbers 

 of eggs. Nine out of ten which she lays she eats 

 to give her the strength to go on with her labors, 

 and when the first larvae emerge, they, too, are 

 fed with surplus eggs. In time they pupate and 

 at the end of six weeks the first workers — all tiny 

 Minims — hatch. Small as they are, born in dark- 

 ness, yet no education is needed. The Spirit of 

 the Attas infuses them. Play and rest are the 

 only things incomprehensible to them, and they 

 take charge at once, of fungus, of excavation, 

 of the care of the queen and eggs, the feeding 

 of the larvae, and as soon as the huskier INIediums 

 appear, they break through into the upper world 

 and one day the first bit of green leaf is carried 

 down mto the nest. 



