Il6 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 



in the nest besides ants ? You will probably find a number 

 of white bodies like tiny grains of rice. These are young 

 ants in the condition in which they are called pupae. 

 They are asleep and perfectly helpless. They look like 

 little bags tied with a string at one end. Some day the 

 bags will split open and a grown-up ant will come forth. 

 What do the ants do with the white pupae when you stir 

 up a nest? These ants that you see racing around and 

 carrying the pupae are known as workers. 



You may easily make an artificial ants' nest and keep 

 a few ants for observation in your schoolroom. There 

 are many ways of making these nests. The field nest is 

 easily made and is very satisfactory. Procure a piece of 

 window glass twelve inches long and six inches wide. 

 Build a wall around it about a fourth of an inch high and 

 half an inch wide by sticking together strips of glass. 

 Divide the space into three apartments by means of par- 

 titions made in the same way as the wall. Leave a pas- 

 sage between the rooms. Have a separate cover for each 

 apartment. The covers should be dark glass or boards. 

 Another simple ant's nest that answers the purpose is an 

 ordinary school slate. Cut a couple of passages in the 

 frame, get a pane of glass and a board or shingle the size 

 of the slate. Set the slate on two blocks of wood in a 

 shallow pan of water. (An ordinary baking pan will do.) 

 To get your ants for the nest, find an ant's home and scoop 

 up with a trowel a number of workers and put them 

 quickly into a glass jar. Collect some of the pupae. You 

 may also find some wriggling wormlike creatures; the 

 very young ants or larvae. Get as little soil as possible. 

 When you return to the schoolroom dump the contents of 



