ANTS 145 



A STUDY OF ANTS ix THE LABORATORY 



The nest (formicary). Most species of ants readily adapt 

 themselves to an artificial nest. After the first few weeks 

 they become accustomed to their surroundings, and may live 

 for years working and rearing their young, much as they do 

 in their natural environment. 



Kellogg in his "American Insects" describes several of 

 the more commonly used formicaries. The large-sized insect- 

 mounting cases serve admirably in this capacity. The case 

 should be partitioned off into two or three rooms, by glueing 

 strips of wood that reach nearly across. On the top of the 

 walls of the case glue strips of Turkish toweling, so that air 

 may . pass to the rooms after the upper glass is in place. 

 Choose two pieces of heavy glass of unequal size for the roof 

 of the formicary, so that one piece will cover two rooms. 

 Exclude the light from these rooms by placing blotting paper 

 over the glass, and keep a wet sponge (finest texture) in each 

 of the darkened rooms. All food should be kept in the light 

 room, and should consist of small pieces of sponge cake, 

 moistened with sirup or honey, apple, mashed nuts, dried 

 fruit, and insects. Keep the sponges wet. In cool weather 

 the food need not be changed oftener than once in two weeks. 



How to obtain an ant colony. Dig up an ants' nest and 

 take larvae, pupre, and workers. If you cannot find the 

 queen, release the captives and try other nests until success- 

 ful. Carry the queen by herself in an envelope, and the 

 young and workers with some earth in a cloth or paper bag. 

 Upon reaching the laboratory, empty the earth and ants upon 

 a board afloat in water; pick out the ants and young from 

 the earth and place them with the queen in the nest. 1 



1 An easy way to manage this is to scrape a hollow in the center of the 

 pile of earth, put the queen in this, and cover it with a chip. The ants will 

 then collect all the eggs and larvae into a pile, and they may be lifted into 

 the nest with a spoon. 



