XXVI 



INSECTA : HYMENOPTERA 



403 



of greater safety. A further search will also disclose a 

 much larger brown wingless ant. This is the queen ant, 

 who is probably the mother of the whole community, and 



Fig. 308. — Diagram of a section of a small part of the Nest of the 

 Yellow Meadow Ant. 



E, Eggs ; L, larvae ; P, pupae ; W^ worker ants ; Q, queen ant. 



who is now entirely occupied in laying eggs, being constantly 

 tended and fed by the workers. In a large nest there may 

 be several queens (see p. 410). 



In the spring, only the wingless queen and her workers 

 will be found in the nest, but in the summer there will 



