156 Chapter IV. 



clean the larvae entrusted to them. Therefore we are 

 right in expecting, that the same perfection of the 

 breeding instincts of ants will be manifested also in the 

 other branches which are not less important for the 

 preservation of the species, namely, in the suitable 

 regulation of the temperature and in the proper nour- 

 ishment and defense of the brood. 



In the oare of the young it is of the utmost import- 

 ance to regulate the conditions of temperature in a 

 manner most advantageous to this development. In 

 bee-hives the position of the brood is determined by 

 the shape of the comb. Throughout its development 

 the young bee remains in the same cell, in which it 

 was placed as egg, and it is therefore constantly sub- 

 ject to the same conditions of temperature. It is quite 

 different with ants. Here the temperature has to be 

 altered and regulated by the workers according to 

 the different stages of development. The eggs and 

 the larvae in their earliest stage are generally stored up 

 in the lowest chambers of the nest, where the air is 

 cool and damp. Further above the half-grown larvae 

 are lodged, whilst the uppermost stories are occupied 

 by the full-grown larvae and the pupae; for these 

 latter require for their development greater heat, which 

 is found immediately beneath the surface of the nest 

 struck by the rays of the sun. If out of doors it 

 grows chilly and rainy, the pupae and elder larvae 

 are immediately carried into the lower chambers, where 

 they are better protected from cold and moisture. This 

 regulation of the conditions of temperature alone, 

 according to the necessities of different stages of 

 development, implies astonishing sagacity, such as even 



