PLANT-EATING INSECTS AND MYRIAPODS 



207 



Fig. 440. — Honey-Ant [Myrinecocystus MexicauHs) 



becomes swelled to a relatively enormous size. This is not, how- 

 ever, a case of individual gluttony, but a device for securing the 

 welfare of the colony, since these living "honey-pots", after 

 making their way back to the nest, feed other members of the 



community from their 



abundant store. * ^ ^-^^ "" " T^®^v 



Ant communities 

 include not only 

 winged males and 

 females, but also one 

 or more kinds of 

 wingless individuals, 

 including workers 

 and so - called sol- 

 diers. This is the 

 case, for example, 

 with the Harvesting Ants of Europe, North Africa, and North 

 America. A familiar passage in the Bible (" Go to the ant, 

 thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise: which having 

 no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, 

 and gathereth her food in the harvest." — Prov. vi. 6-8) expresses 

 an old-established belief in the storage of grain by Ants. This 

 was, however, long discredited on the authority of the celebrated 

 entomologist Huber. More recent observations have reconciled 

 the two opposite opinions. For while Huber's observations are 

 correct for northern Ants, there can now be no doubt that stor- 

 age does take place in the case of species about to be mentioned, 

 which inhabit warmer climates and do not pass into a state of 

 lethargy during the winter. Moggridge, for example, has carefully 

 studied the habits of a Harvesting Ant i^Aphcenogaster barbarus) 

 found in Southern Europe, the communities of which include 

 small workers and large-headed soldiers, the former being the 

 members which carry out the harvesting operations. When the 

 end of autumn approaches, these industrious creatures collect from 

 the ground fallen seeds of various weeds (speedwells, nettles, 

 fumitory, &c.), together with oat grains. They are also seen, 

 when dissatisfied with the amount so obtainable, to climb 

 the stems and detach the fruits by twisting them round and 

 round on their stalks, afterwards either carrying down the 

 spoil or dropping it into the midst of the expectant throng 



