370 TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



or Emse, is merely another form for Die Emsige, i.e., the " industrious 

 one "). For the execution of the various tasks incumbent on them, with 

 which we shall become closer acquainted in the following sections, these 

 workers principally make use of their pincer-shaped mandibles, which in 

 them are much stronger and larger than in the idle members of the com- 

 munity. For the same reason, since strong muscles are required for 

 the movement of these organs, their head also is considerably larger than 

 that of the latter ; on the other hand, the thorax, being wingless, is much 

 weaker than in the winged insects. (The communities of all the other 

 ant species are similarly composed, and the same differences exist 

 among their various inhabitants. Among some foreign species, in 

 addition to the ordinary worker females, others with much larger heads 

 and more powerful jaws occur, which are called soldiers. It has been 

 observed that these cut up the food into smaller pieces for their weaker 

 fellows, and act as leaders and directors of the expeditions undertaken 

 by the community.) 



B. Domicile. 



The nest of the red ant is a fine castle, constructed out of the needles 

 of pines and firs, bits of resin and wood, small stones, etc. (Observe 

 how the materials of the nest are collected and conveyed.) 



If we clear away a portion of this structure — which extends down- 

 wards into the ground about as deep as it rises above it — we observe a 

 labyrinth of holes and tunnels so dark that only an ant could find its 

 way about in them. Truly a wonderful structure, and a gigantic per- 

 formance for such tiny builders! (Among our native ants different 

 species choose entirely different situations for their dwellings : thus, we 

 may find one species housed between the cracks and crevices of the 

 pavement or of masonry ; others take up their quarters under a large 

 stone ; here we may see a colony laboriously erecting a structure from 

 earth and sand, which the next rain will wash away ; there, again, another 

 has gnawed out chambers and passages in decaying wood or the solid 

 trunk of a tree, etc.) 



C. Care of the Brood. 



A number of the host of worker females are always fully occupied 

 with the care of the progeny. It is their task to convey to an upper or 

 lower story of the building, according to the warmth or moisture required, 

 the tiny eggs, the white legless larva, (maggots), or the -pwpce, the latter, 

 which are enclosed in a cocoon (see p. 333) being falsely called ant-eggs. 

 They further have to clean the helpless larvae, and to supply them with 



