56 ARTHROPODA 



intended for food for her young by stinging them in a chief 

 nerve center. To find the young and their food the nests 

 should be examined in May or June. The adult mud wasp 

 may be recognized by the threadlike connection between the 

 thorax and abdomen. 



Ants 



The numerous species of ants are distinguished from 

 the other members of the order by one or two swellings on 

 the slender stem (petiole) connecting the thorax and ab- 

 domen. They dwell in communities in which there may 

 be as many as five different castes or forms. In addition 

 to the ordinary winged males and females, there are two 

 kinds of workers, and the soldiers adapted for fighting. 



FIG. 38. Photograph of ants, a, cocoon containing a larva ; 6, larva ; c, pupa ; 

 d, adult worker ; e, queen. About natural size. 



The workers as with the bees are undeveloped females 

 which never possess wings. The true females or queens 

 have wings in the early part of the year until after the 

 nuptial flight, at the end of which they tear them off and 

 seek places to lay their eggs beneath stones, in decaying 

 wood, or under the bark of trees. 



