young are carried from one room to the 

 other, and often into the air. Just why 

 this has been done has never been really 

 determined, but it is thought that this 

 method is pursued in order to secure 

 for the larvae the different temperatures 

 of heat and moisture necessary to their 

 perfect development. 



The larval stage of young ants is the 

 period of growth, and they are then fed 

 with great care until they reach the 

 chrysalis stage, when they are given 

 nothing — being allowed to remain in a 

 state of perfect quiescence until they 

 emerge full-fledged ants, and immedi- 

 ately take their turn feeding those com- 

 ing on to maturity. 



There are three large divisions of ants : 

 The Formicidea, Phoneridae and Myr- 

 micidea. These three families embrace 

 all of the various species, there being a 

 thousand different races known to natu- 

 ralists. 



The. body of an ant consists of three 

 parts, the head, the thorax,- and the ab- 

 domen. The head, of course, bears the 

 chief organs of sense, the antennae, the 

 mandibles, and the eyes ; the thorax, sup- 

 porting the legs, and when present, the 

 wings ; the abdomen, the stomach, intes- 

 tines and other organs. 



The eyes are of two kinds — simple and 

 compound, the latter being most wonder- 

 ful in construction, having hundreds of 

 facets, varying in number according to 

 the species — the males of all races pos- 

 sessing the greatest number, those in the 

 Formica pratusis having about twelve 

 hundred facets in each eye, while the fe- 

 males have between eight and nine hun- 

 dred, and the workers six hundred. 



Much has been said and written con- 

 cerning the origin of ants' nests, and 

 many interesting efforts made to deter- 

 mine their exact mode of starting new 

 homes, but thus far no positive knowl- 

 edge of the beginning has resulted from 

 experiments. It is a well-established 

 fact, however, that each nest consists of 

 three kinds of individuals : workers, or 

 imperfect females, whose duties it is to 

 attend to the young; males, and perfect 

 females. In each community there may 

 be two or three queens. A queen is pro- 

 vided with a pair of beautiful wings, 

 which may be likened to the veil of the 

 bride, or perhaps more properly to the 



sacrificial covering of the nun, for after 

 one short flight into the world, with its 

 soft breezes and bright sunshine, she re- 

 turns to her home and immediately de- 

 spoils herself of her wings. As she lays 

 aside her gauzy apparel it is not difficult 

 to imagine her the young matron on 

 house-keeping thoughts intent, or the 

 pious sister who gives never a thought 

 to the gay world, lost to her forever, 

 for the queen never voluntarily sees the 

 light of day again. 



It is difficult to realize tliat these 

 seemingly inoff'ensive insects are gov- 

 erned, at times, by fiercest enmity toward 

 alien races, and that they can and do en- 

 gage in deadliest combat with those an- 

 tagonistic to themselves. The modes of 

 battle differ with each race of ants, and 

 according to the purpose of the fray. 

 Thus the Formica sanguinea, on a 

 slave-taking expedition, seek to terrify 

 rather than kill, and only offer pursuit 

 to the flying inhabitants of the invaded 

 nest when they try to carry off with them 

 the pupae of their young. These the 

 sanguinea force them to give up, and, 

 taking possession of them, themselves 

 convey them to their own nests, where 

 they are carefully attended until hatched, 

 when they are introduced into slavery, 

 and therefore know no life save one of 

 toil. 



The Polyergus rufescens, or cele- 

 brated slave-making ants, dispatch their 

 enemies at once, but, save in battle, they 

 are a helpless, indolent species of a won- 

 derful race of insects. 'This race of 

 ants," says Sir John Lubbock, "presents 

 a striking lesson of the degrading ten- 

 dency of slavery, for these ants have be- 

 come entirely dependent upon their 

 slaves. Even their bodily structure has 

 undergone a change. The mandibles 

 have lost their teeth and become mere 

 nippers ; deadly weapons, indeed, but 

 useless save in warfare. They have lost 

 the greater part of their instincts ; their 

 art, that is, the power of building; their 

 domestic habits, for they show no care 

 for their young, all being done by slaves ; 

 their industry — they take no part in pro- 

 viding the daily supplies. If the colony 

 changes the situation of its nest, the mas- 

 ters are all carried to the new abode on 

 the backs of the slaves — nay, they have 

 even lost their habit of feeding, and if 



55 



