Ants 



nests. Why they do so remained a mystery for a long 

 time. Some naturalists concluded that they used the 

 leaves as food, others that they lined their nests with 

 them ; the real use, however, of this vegetable matter is 

 to act as a manure on which their much-loved fungus 

 will grow. 



The nests of these ants consist of numerous rounded, 

 underground chambers, about as large as a man's head, 

 connected together by tunnels. In these chambers there 

 is stored a speckled, brown, spongy mass of vegetable 

 matter, the prepared leaves, interwoven with a minute 

 white fungus. Other vegetable matter, including the 

 white rind of oranges, is used for the same purpose. An 

 astonishing thing about these ants is the care they take 

 over the ventilation of their fungus beds. Numerous 

 tunnels connect the chambers with the air. These are 

 constantly opened, and as often closed, to keep up a 

 regular temperature. Certain of the workers are told off 

 to weed these fungus gardens, and the task is no light 

 one, because the vegetable manure is a favourable medium 

 for the growth of many kinds of fungi, but the ants only 

 permit one kind to flourish. 



When a move is made to a fresh nest, portions of the 

 fungus are taken to the new home by the workers so that 

 the food supply may remain unimpaired, but stranger 

 still is the proceeding when the queen sets forth to start 

 a new colony. When she leaves her nest for the marriage 

 flight she takes with her the remains of her last meal, 

 consisting of her favoured fungus. After mating, she 

 digs a hole in the ground, closes its opening to the outside 

 world and sets to work to found a colony. She spits out 

 the pellet of fungus threads and cultivates it, while she 

 is at the same time laying eggs and rearing the larvae. 

 Wonder upon wonder confronts us in the study of these 

 marvellous insects. How does the solitary, fully occupied 

 queen gather leaves on which to grow her little store of 

 fungus? She uses no leaves, but simply crushes up a few 



