CHAPTER VII 

 COCOONS, NESTS AND EGGS 



WHAT would you think of a mother who used her child 

 as a shuttle in weaving silk ? A peculiar question to ask, 

 no doubt ; but the young of certain ants are used in this 

 manner. One of the commonest ants of tropical Africa 

 builds a nest of leaves fastened together by a fine white 

 web resembling the finest silk. The leaves are fastened 

 together at their edges and the ant community dwells 

 within. The method of construction employed in these 

 leafy nests long remained a mystery, for no ant has ever 

 been known to spin silk. 



An observer, quite recently, by tearing a rent in one of 

 the nests, solved the mystery. When the nest was damaged, 

 some of the workers defended the home, others repaired 

 the rent, and they did so in a peculiar way, by lining up in 

 a row and seizing the edge of the leaf, on the other side of 

 the rent, in their jaws, the while they took firm hold of the 

 nearer side with their feet. Then they slowly and cautiously 

 backed, holding all the time on to the farther edge of the 

 rent, and thus brought the two edges together. Next came 

 other workers who cut away the old silk web along the 

 edges of the rent, carried the pieces to an exposed situation, 

 awaited a breeze, then let them float away in the air. 

 After an hour's labour a strong gust of wind tore the 

 edges of the rent out of the ants' jaws, but, undaunted, 

 they began again, and in half-an-hour had pulled the 

 edges near together again. 



Then the most peculiar thing happened. From the 

 inner recesses of the nest countless workers ran, each 

 bearing a grub in its mouth. They climbed upon the 

 portions of the leaves which were still held together by 



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