Insect Study 423 



8. If you find winged ants in a nest, catch a few in a vial with a few 

 of the workers, and compare the two. The winged ants are kings and 

 queens, the kings being much smaller than the queens. 



9. If you chance to encounter a swarm of winged ants taking flight, 

 make observations as to the size of swarm, the height above the ground, 

 and whether any are falling to the earth. 



10. Look under the loose bark of trees for nests of the big, black 

 carpenter ant. You may find in such situations a queen ant starting a 

 colony, which will prove most desirable for stocking an artificial ant's nest. 



11. If you find ants climbing shrubs, trees or other plants, look upon 

 the leaves for aphid s and note the following points: 



a. Mow does an ant act as she approaches an aphid? 



b. If the aphids are crowded on the leaf, does she step on them? 



c. Watch carefully to see how the ant touches the aphid when she 

 wishes the honey-dew. 



d. Watch how the aphid excretes the honey-dew, and note if the ant 

 eats it. 



e. If you disturb aphids which have ants tending them, note whether 

 the ants attempt to defend or rescue their herds. 



f If there are aphis-lions or ladybird larvae eating the aphids, note 

 if the ants attack them. 



12. If you find a colony of ants under stones where there are brown 

 and black ants living together, the black members are the slaves of the 

 brown. Observe as carefully as possible the actions of both the black 

 and the brown inhabitants of the nest. 



13. If you chance to see ants fighting, note how they make the 

 attack. With what weapons do they fight? How do they try to get at 

 the adversary? 



14. Write an English theme covering the following points: How 

 ants take their slaves; the attitude of masters and slaves toward each 

 other; the work which the slaves do, and the story of the ant battle. 

 How ants care for and use their herds. 



References — ^American Insects, Kellogg, Manual for the Study of 

 Insects, Comstock; Ants, McCook; True Tales, Jordan, page 6. 



LESSON XCVI 

 How TO Make the Lubbock Ant-nest 



Material — Two pieces of window glass, 10 inches square ; a sheet of tin, 

 II inches square; a piece of plank, i}4 inch thick, 20 inches long and at 

 least 16 inches wide; a sheet of tin or a thin, flat board, 10 inches square. 



To make the nest — Take the plank and on the upper side, a short dis- 

 tance from the edge, cut a deep furrow. This furrow is to be filled with 

 water, as a moat, to keep the ants imprisoned. It is necessary, therefore, 

 that the plank should have no knot holes, and that it be painted thor- 

 oughly to keep it from checking. Take the sheet of tin 11 inches square, 

 and make it into a tray by turning up the edges three-eighths of an inch. 

 Place this tray in the middle of the plank. Place within the tray one 

 pane of glass. Lay around the edges of this glass four strips of wood 

 about half an inch wide and a little thicker than the height of the ants 

 which are to live in the nest. Cover the glass with a thin layer of fine 

 earth. Take the remaining pane of glass and cut a triangular piece off 



