Cocoons, Nests and Eggs 



the workers and used their grubs as spools and shuttles. 

 The larva; gave off a fine silk from their mouths, and this 

 the ants used to bind the edges of the nest together. 

 From one side to the other they travelled, placing the 

 grubs' mouths against the leaf till the silk had adhered 

 to the leaf, then they passed over to the other side and 

 repeated the process. 



It must be an interesting sight to watch these ants 

 building their nests. If the leaves are large and stiff, 

 hundreds of ants may be required to haul a leaf down and 

 hold it in position ; it is quite a tug-of-war. Sometimes 

 the insects holding the leaf have a chain of two or three 

 of their comrades fastened on to them, one behind the 

 other, each holding its neighbour by its slender waist and 

 all at full stretch and pulling earnestly. What a strain 

 for poor number one. When the leaf edges are far apart 

 th,e ants form themselves into chains to bridge the distance 

 and bring it down. " When contemplating the work done 

 on these nests one cannot but marvel at the wonderful 

 ingenuity displayed, or in endeavouring to form some 

 idea of the vast number of grubs which must be utilised 

 to supply the connecting web even for a moderately 

 sized nest, for with narrow-leaved trees many scores of 

 leaves are required to form a nest and each must be 

 sewn." 



Of all the ingenious shelters for insects' eggs, one of 

 the most striking is the curious raft constructed by the 

 silver water-beetle. The mother beetle may often be seen 

 at work in the spring ; she clings, upside down, to some 

 water weed and spins a concave sheet of silk which she 

 attaches to some plant on which she has taken up her 

 position. Then, reversing her position, she weaves a 

 similar silken sheet and, having done so, fixes the two 

 together so that they form a nearly spherical cocoon, open 

 at one end. Inside this structure she deposits her eggs in 

 regular rows, suspended from its upper surface ; next she 

 closes the open end of the cocoon and spins a little spout 



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