THE PERFECT SOCIALISM 



77 



Fig. 29. An Ant Cow-shed. 



relationship accrue only to the ants. However, this is 

 not the case. The ants are fierce defenders of their 

 flocks, and make it very 

 uncomfortable for the 

 many insect enemies of 

 the aphids. Some species 

 of ants build sheds over 

 the aphids upon the trees 

 (Fig. 29), and other spe- 

 cies remove them to the 

 safety of their own nests; 

 but the special claim of 

 the ants as aphid protectors lies in the care of the aphid 

 eggs, which are shown as much attention as their own. 

 This habit of ants has proven of economic importance 

 to our farmers of the middle west. One of the serious 

 pests in that region is the corn-root plant-louse. Pro- 

 fessor Forbes has demonstrated that these corn-root lice 

 are absolutely dependent on the ants which live in the 

 earth of the corn-fields. Ants fetch the last brood of 

 aphids in the fall into their nests, and there the ovipa- 

 rous generation is developed, and the eggs are laid. 

 The ants give these eggs great care, taking them into 

 the deeper galleries during cold weather and fetching 

 them to the surface in warm days. When the young 

 aphids hatch, the ants take them and place them upon 



