116 ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS—THE WEB OF LIFE 
from the silk-glands opening near the mouths of the larve. 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 “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 
larve, 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 
