294 ANIMAL LIFE 



another so as to exclude waste of room, and the different 

 castes are not due to any variation in the shape of 

 the cell in which they are reared so much as to the 

 food with which they are supplied. Both workers 

 and queens receive at first a kind of jellied milk (pro- 

 duced either by the salivary glands or by the stomach 

 of the worker nurse, and possibly, when supplied to the 

 queen larvae is not identical in constitution with that 

 given to the young workers) ; but whilst this diet is 

 continued for the queen, it is cut off from the young 

 worker after a few days, and for the rest of its larval 

 life the worker is given a coarser diet of honey, pollen, 

 and water. The drones usually arise from a some- 

 what different egg, but it is not certain whether in this 

 sex, too, the larval food may not have some influence, 

 since it is thought that drones receive more royal 

 jelly than do workers. 



The Nests of Ants. In the care of their young, 

 ants show more simplicity and flexibility of instinc- 

 tive nursing capacity than are exhibited by any other 

 animal. The nest is adapted to the nature of the 

 surroundings, and is sufficiently large to enable the 

 ants to adapt their charges to variations of climate. 

 The eggs, instead of being laid in cells, are deposited 

 loosely in the nest, and are carried, watched, and 

 cleaned by workers. When the colony is prosperous 

 a vast flight of males and females takes place from 

 a large tract of country, under heavy, thundery, hot 

 conditions. From the turf there spring fountains of 

 these winged creatures, and for miles on the same or 



