276 INSECT LIFE. 



the head of a colony of ants, is a misnomer, for among 

 social insects the queens do not rule ; they are 

 merely the mothers of their colonies. The queen 

 ant is not jealous, like the queen bee, but may live in 

 peace in the same dwelling with several other queens. 

 She is always an object of extreme devotion to her 

 attendants, who feed her and care for her eggs as 

 soon as she lays them. 



The larvae of ants are white and legless ; most 

 species spin cocoons when ready to pupate, but some 

 do not. The oblong, egg-shaped bodies which may 

 be seen in any ant's nest, and which are often mis- 

 taken by the careless observer for eggs, are these 

 cocoons. The eggs are so small that they escape 

 observation unless careful search is made for them. 

 The larvae are efficiently cared for by the workers, 

 who carry them about and put them in the warmer 

 parts of the nest and feed them. When the adults 

 issue from their cocoons their nurses help them out 

 carefully ; and they unfold the legs and smooth out 

 the wings of new-fledged royalty with tenderest solici- 

 tude. The workers are by far the most interesting 

 portion of the ant colony, as they do all the work — 

 feed the colony, build and defend the nests, care for 

 the young and for the stock, and carry on the wars. 

 The workers are undeveloped females, which very 

 rarely lay eggs, and as the eggs of workers always 

 develop into males, the presence of a queen is neces- 

 sary for the perpetuation of the life of a colony. For 

 this reason, as the queens grow old the workers find 

 young queens at the swarming season, bring them 

 into their nests, and adopt them as successors to the 

 old queens. 



