HYMENOPTERA OR BEES, ANTS, WASPS, ETC. 67 



strong jaws; they generally take a prominent part in 

 the defense of the community against its enemies. 



Ants usually make nests by digging burrows or tunnels 

 in the earth, and heaps of material are often accumulated 

 around the openings of the burrows, or "ant hills" 

 with which everyone is familiar. The large, black car- 

 penter ants burrow into old stumps or rotten tree trunks. 

 A few species make nests in the hollowed-out stems of 

 plants. The nests are usually in places where it is moist 

 and dark. Here the eggs are laid, the larvae tended and 

 fed by the workers, and the pupae stored in suitable 

 chambers. The pupae of many species are enclosed in 

 a cocoon spun by the larva. These cocoons are often 

 erroneously called "ant eggs," the true eggs being very 

 much smaller objects. Both eggs and pupae are objects 

 of much solicitude on the part of the worker ants ; they 

 carry them about from one chamber to another so as to 

 keep them in a favorable situation, and when a nest is 

 broken into the workers may be seen wildly rushing about 

 with pupae or egg-masses in their jaws in the effort to save 

 them from destruction. 



Most students of ant life agree that ants have a power 

 of communication by means of striking one another with 

 their antennae and by making other signs whereby they 

 may be warned of danger, or induced to follow a particular 

 ant to obtain food. If one ant discovers a bit of sugar 

 it is not long until a train of other ants is trooping to the 

 spot. The ant community is closely bound together in 

 its common interests; the members work industriously 

 for the common good, and are ready to engage in fierce 

 struggles for the defense of their community. Stir up 

 an ant hill and you will see with what vigor and zeal the 

 ants rush out to attack the offender. War in many species 

 is an almost chronic condition. This is especially true 



