Queer Friendships 



from a foraging expedition. The insect robber watches 

 his opportunity and when he sees two ants mouth to 

 mouth and about to pass the luscious liquid, he springs 

 up and gulps it up in mid-air and there remains a dis- 

 appointed ant and a satisfied ant guest. 



The friendship of a little fly for a favourite ant is so 

 near to parasitism that we are not sure if it should find a 

 place in this chapter ; at any rate, the fly is so considerate 

 of its host that it does little harm, so we will not class it 

 among the evil-working parasites. The fly lays its eggs 

 in the ants' nest and its grubs on hatching immediately 

 affix themselves to an ant grub by means of a sucker-like 

 tail. Now the worker ants, as is their wont, pay great 

 attention to their grubs and feed them constantly with 

 pieces of insects. 



A meal for the ant grub means a meal for the fly larva, 

 for the latter always partakes of a portion of the fare 

 provided. When the ant grub spins its cocoon, the little 

 visitor goes with it into hiding, but it takes the precaution 

 of moving to the tail end of its temporary shelter, lest, later 

 on, when the ant is eating its way out to freedom, it should 

 receive a bite by mistake. The ant comes from the 

 cocoon first and the empty case, or so the ants think, is 

 removed to a refuse heap outside the nest and the fly 

 emerges at a later date. Who can fail to admire the 

 wonderful workings of Nature in this and in hosts of similar 

 cases ? The little fly grub is really a parasite, there is no 

 use in denying the fact, but it does no harm to its hosts ; 

 they clean it as carefully as they clean their own larvae and, 

 happy to relate, the ants which come from the cocoons 

 which they have shared with their guests are as healthy 

 and vigorous as their fellows which have not been so 

 encumbered. 



The period in the hermit crab's life when he has grown 

 too big for his purloined home and must needs seek a 

 larger shell is always fraught with anxiety. To watch the 

 crab changing from his old home to the new one is most 



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