4 Ants. 



They are generally said to be hatched about fifteen 

 days after being laid, but those observed by me 

 have taken a month or six weeks. 



The larvae or grubs of ants, like those of bees 

 and wasps, are small, white, legless creatures, some- 

 Avhat conical in form, narrowing towards the head. 

 They are carefully tended and fed, being carried 

 about from chamber to chamber by the workers, 

 probably in order to secure the most suitable 

 amount of warmth and moisture. I have observed, 

 also, that they are very often assorted according to 

 age. It is sometimes very curious in my nests to 

 see them arranged in groups according to size, so 

 that they remind one of a school divided into five 

 or six classes. 



4. As regards the length of life of the larvae, 

 those which are born in the spring become full 

 grown in a few weeks. In other cases the period 

 is much longer. In certain species the small 

 yellow Meadow Ant, for instance some of the 

 larvae live through the winter. 



When full grown the larvae turn into pupae, 

 sometimes naked (fig. 2, b b'}, sometimes covered 

 with a silken cocoon (fig. 2, cc'~), constituting the 

 so-called "ant-eggs." We do not yet understand 

 why some larvae spin cocoons, while others remain 

 naked. As a general rule, the species which 

 have a sting are naked, while those which have 

 not are enveloped in a cocoon. There is, however, 

 one species the larvae of which sometimes spin 



