fielde] communal LIFE OF ANTS 241 



that an ant-nurse can conveniently carry a bundle of a dozen or 

 more larv?e, holding the bundle in her mandibles, her jaws. 



At the smaller end of the larva there is a mouth, and the young 

 larvae are so placed that their mouths project from all sides of 

 the bundle. I have often seen two or three ant-workers engaged 

 in supporting a bundle of young larvae high above the floor on 

 which they stood, while a fourth ant, carrying a drop of regurgi- 

 tated food on the end of her tongue, passed along from one 

 larval mouth to another, allowing the ant-babies successively to 

 suck their fill from the regurgitated drop. 



As the larvae grow older the hooks drop off and the larvae are 

 laid in groups, assorted in accordance with size, on the floor of 

 the nest. Morsels of insect flesh are sometimes laid by the ant- 

 nurses upon the chests of the larvae, who bend their necks and 

 partake of this succulent food much as a human infant imbibes 

 its bottle of milk. 



The length of the larval stage of the ant varies greatly with 

 temperature and nourishment, sometimes being as brief as twelve 

 days, sometimes extending to many months. When the larva 

 has grown to the bulk of an adult ant of its species, it becomes 

 lethargic for a few days, then bursts its outer skin, and appears 

 as a snow-white, soft, snugly-folded ant. This pupa may be 

 naked or may be inclosed in a cocoon spun by the larva just 

 previous to its period of repose. 



The pupa-stage is passed in about twenty days and toward the 

 close of this period the colors of the adult are gradually assumed. 

 Then comes the beginning of active life, with a twitching of the 

 legs and a wriggling of the head, that calls the attention of the 

 ant-nurses and secures from them such help as may be necessary 

 in freeing the young ant from its outer membrane, or for the 

 unfolding of its limbs. It is cleansed, fed, cuddled, and tended 

 with surpassing assiduity. The callow, the newly hatched ant, is 

 usually paler in color than its adolescent relatives, but it soon 

 acquires the hues and the vigor of complete maturity. When 

 but a few hours old, the callow^ worker begins its life-long labor 

 in the care of the eggs, larvae and pupae. 



Ants may be either male or female ; and females may be either 

 queens or workers. Workers may have different forms and be 

 designated as majors, minors or minims. Whether the ant be 



