2i6 INSECT ARTIZANS AND THEIR WORK 



although industry is their prevaiUng virtue, should 

 they meet with a foraging party returning home 

 laden with provender, they are not so virtuous as 

 to be content with passing the time of day with 

 their kinsfolk from another settlement, but they 

 fall upon them and endeavour to despoil them of 

 the fruits of their labour. 



Under the clear disc on the surface are the 

 galleries of the ants connecting with flat-floored 

 chambers in which they live and tend their young, 

 and others that are set apart as granaries. These 

 are placed at a depth of about two feet, so that the 

 grain shall be unaffected by changes of temperature 

 up above ; but the galleries have been traced to a 

 depth of fifteen feet below the surface. 



In many species of ants there are two grades of 

 workers — workers minor who do most of the work of 

 the community, and workers major who run largely 

 to head and have powerful jaws. These workers 

 major among the agricultural ants appear to be 

 set apart as seed-crushers, using their jaws to crack 

 the hard malted seeds into handy-sized pieces that 

 the workers minor can deal with comfortably, 

 masticating and mixing them with saliva to make 

 them a digestible food for the larvae. 



Dr. Wheeler, the most recent historian of the 

 American ants, supports McCook's view that the 

 ants do not actually sow the seeds of the ant-rice 

 (McCook at least says that Lincecum's statement is 

 not proven) ; but his statement shows that Lincecum 

 made a not unnatural inference from the facts. 



