56 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 
detained as prisoners, yet each is still attended by a body- 
guard—a single ant; which always accompanies her, and 
prevents her wants,—Its station is remarkable, it being 
mounted upon her abdomen, with its posterior legs upon 
the ground. ‘These sentinels are constantly relieved: and 
to watch the moment when the female begins the impor- 
tant work of oviposition, and carry off the eggs, of which 
she lays four or five thousand or more in the course of the 
year, seems to be their principal office. 
When the female is acknowledged as a mother, the 
workers begin to pay her a homage very similar to that 
which the bees render to their queen. All press round 
her, offer her food, conduct her by her mandibles through 
the difficult or steep passages of the formicary ; nay, they 
sometimes even carry her about their city ;—she is then 
suspended upon their jaws, the ends of which are crossed ; 
and, being coiled up like the tongue of a butterfly, she is 
packed so close as to incommode the carrier but little. 
When she sets her down, others surround and caress her, 
one after another tapping her on the head with their an- 
tennee. ‘ In whatever apartment, ” says Gould, “ a queen 
condescends to be present, she commands obedience and 
respect. An universal gladness spreads itself through the 
whole cell, which is expressed by particular acts of joy 
and exultation, ‘They have a particular way of skipping, 
leaping, and standing upon their hind-legs, and prancing 
with the others. ‘These frolics they make use of, both to 
congratulate each other when they meet, and to show 
their regard for the queen; some of them gently walk over 
her, others dance round her ;—she is generally encircled 
with a cluster of attendants, who, if you separate them 
