Ants 



return to the nest fully laden. Once in their home, they 

 lose no time in seeking out the individuals waiting for 

 them in the vaulted chambers. The mouths of forager 

 and prospective honey-pot are closely applied, the honey- 

 dew is regurgitated by the worker and absorbed by its 

 fellow till it becomes so distended as to resemble a six- 

 legged currant. It is changed into a positive living 

 storehouse, filled with grape sugar. So utterly incapable 

 of movement does it become, by reason of its sugary 

 burden, that, should it fall by accident from its vaulted 

 roof, it will lie, with its legs in the air, a helpless mass of 

 ant anatomy. 



Why, it may be asked, should the worker ants display 

 such solicitude for their seemingly lazy relatives ? Be 

 assured there is a reason for their behaviour. Bad times 

 may fall upon the community, either through drought or 

 the natural sequence of the seasons. Then, at anyrate, 

 the honey-ants become objects of prime importance. 

 Hungry workers will stroke them gently with their feelers 

 and, pleased with such unwonted attention, the " honey 

 pots " disgorge their store of grape sugar, drop by drop, 

 to the evident delight of the workers. As Dr Wheeler 

 has remarked : " Those who are wont to extol the fervid 

 industry and extraordinary feats of muscular endurance 

 in ants should not overlook the beatific patience and self- 

 sacrifice displayed by the replete ant as it hangs from the 

 rafters of its nest, month in, month out perhaps for 

 years a reservoir of temperamental as well as liquid 

 sweetness." 



The cultivation of mushrooms might be thought to be 

 beyond the powers of even the intelligent ant ; well, ants 

 do not cultivate the mushrooms we are accustomed to 

 eat, but they come very near to it. They grow fungi of 

 various kinds in their underground nests. These fungus- 

 growing ants all dwell in tropical America, and very 

 destructive they are, for they have a pernicious habit of 

 removing leaves from trees and carrying them to their 

 D 49 



