338 THE WORLD OF ANIMAL LIFE 



really cocoons, from which full-grown ants will shortly eat their 

 way out. 



The active little ants which carry the cocoons about are called 

 " workers ". Their duties are to go out and forage for food, protect 

 the home, and nurse the young. They never have wings. 



Both males and females, however, have wings when they break 

 from their cocoons, and escape from the nest. The workers are 

 said to do their best to keep them within bounds, and even catch 

 and bring back many that have got out. Those that do make their 

 escape fly off into the world. The male seems to die shortly 

 afterwards, but the female looks about for a suitable place for a 

 nest of its own. When it has fixed on a good situation it seems 

 then to lose its wings, and starts to prepare a nest for its young. 



Some species of ant carry off the workers of other species and 

 make slaves of them. They send out an army to attack a neigh- 

 bouring nest. Scouts are sent on in advance, who bring in reports 

 to the main body, which, when all is ready, rushes upon the nest 

 of their intended victims. A fierce battle is waged, and many 

 are killed on both sides. But the result is generally in favour 

 of the attacking party, who, when they have driven back their 

 opponents, enter the nest and carry off the pupae of the workers. 

 These, when hatched in their new nest, have no desire to run 

 away, for they cannot remember their old home, and they work, 

 of course, quite contentedly. 



Besides keeping slaves, ants rear "cows" and milk them, only 

 their "cows" are the little insects called aphides, which live on 

 plants and trees, and the " milk " is a sweet fluid called honey- 

 dew, which they secrete. The ants induce their " cows " to drop 

 this fluid by stroking them gently. 



The ant-hill is generally a very interesting structure. It is built 

 of mud and other materials, and is in foreign countries sometimes 

 twelve feet high. Inside, it is divided into a number of chambers, 

 which are joined by many galleries. Passages also lead from them 

 to main thoroughfares, and so to the entrance. The eggs, larvae, 

 and pupae are kept in these rooms arranged in rows and fed and 

 attended by the workers, and are removed from one part to another 

 as they grow towards maturity. 



