n6 ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS THE WEB OF LIFE 



from the silk-glands opening near the mouths of the larvae. A 

 worker engaged in this task holds a larva firmly in her jaws, and 

 holds it to the required spot, using it in fact as a living gum-bottle. 



Some of the leading features in the communal life of a large 

 society of the industrious insects under discussion may be learnt 

 from the study of our largest native species, the reddish-coloured 

 Wood- Ant or Horse- Ant (Formica rufa). It abounds in the fir- 

 woods of our southern counties, where the. large " ant-hills" which 

 it constructs are conspicuous objects. The winged males and 

 females are not far short of half an inch in length, and there are 

 two kinds of worker, which are respectively about one-fourth, and 

 from one -fifth to one-sixth of an inch long. The nest may be 

 nearly three feet high and some eighteen feet round at its base, 

 and is made up of fir-needles, together with all sorts of plant 

 fragments. The vicinity of the nest is trodden down into a 

 number of * ' ant-roads ", which are the scene of much busy going 

 and coming. The larger workers are principally concerned, 

 when outside the nest, with collecting building materials, while 

 an important duty of the smaller workers is to collect the u honey- 

 dew " of aphides, insects which are often picturesquely described 

 as " ant-cows ". The substance in question is a sugary fluid that 

 exudes in considerable amount from the intestines of these little 

 creatures, and is eagerly swallowed by the workers, a great deal of 

 it passing into their dilated crops. Having filled themselves up 

 with this desirable food, the workers hurry back to the nest, and 

 obligingly distribute some of their store for the benefit of the 

 larvae, and their adult friends who have meanwhile been engaged 

 with the internal economy of the nest. There are no special 

 receptacles corresponding to the honey -tubs of humble-bees or 

 comb-cells of ordinary bees, for storage of what is not immediately 

 needed. Indeed none of our native ants indulge in the luxury of 

 a larder, and remain in a torpid condition during the winter. The 

 food is by no means limited to honey-dew, but is of very mixed 

 nature, for caterpillars, various adult insects, and miscellaneous 

 vegetable matter all figure in the bill of fare. There is a constant 

 return of foraging parties to the central home (fig. 1097). 



The ant-hill is literally riddled with labyrinthine galleries 

 expanding at intervals into rounded chambers, and for some depth 

 the underlying ground is mined with passages continuous with 

 those above. It is easier to destroy an ant-hill than to get any 



