R- 



nar.ie honestly, but that seems to be about all they get honestly. They 

 have a habit of living in the walls of the underground hall-ways and roans 

 Y/hich form the ho:nes of other and larger ants. The little thioves move 

 about freely and kill and eat . the yoxmg of the bigger ants. The mcsagos 

 into the thieves quarters are so small, the bigger ants csui't ret through 

 the::: . 



But evidently, thief ants were not the kind King Solomon v/ac 

 thinking about when he -ave his famous advice to lazy humans. 



I guess most of us think of the busy bees as being the last v;ord 

 in r.ocial organization; but as Solomon knew some of the ants have a more 

 marvelous and more highl;>'' organized society than you find in a color;/ of 

 bj8s. Like honey bees, ants have distinct castes, and divide up the work, 

 and all work together in the most perfect harmony and accord. The ants 

 you ordinarily see in houses are the neuters or worker ants. The ant colony 

 has bi.^ wingloss female or "queen" ants, and at times produces the \7inged 

 male and female ants v/liich aLnost immediately^ ta3re their nuptial flight. 

 T.-.j ;.-iales soon perish, and the females tear off their wings and sot about 

 to crtablish nev/ colonics in much the same wa^r as docs the queen bee. 



Our common American lavm art, , a dozen nxDunds of which you con often 

 s::o in one squa.re yard of lav/n surface, is not only a lawn pest, a^d 

 sometimes gets into the c,roceries in the kitchen, but also has an interest- 

 ing habit which often causes considerable damage in the flower and 

 vegetable ~arden. 



That is, those connon Ap.ericr^n lawn ants keep "cows" and pasture 

 them on the plants. Tlieir cows are the aphids or plant lice which suck 

 the .juices from the stems aiid roots of the garden plants. The ants actually 

 :;et that juice or "honeydetr" by practically "milking" those other insects. 

 That is, the plajit lice let them stroke them, and when they do, the plant 

 lice £,ive up the honeydew to the ants. 



T/hat's more, the entomologists tell me, the ant herders protect the 

 aphids and drive av/ay predatory insects. They keep aphids penned up, and 

 carry them and put them on the roots of plants. They take them to pasture, 

 as it were. And the ants remove the earth from the surface of tho roots 

 and build runways around thorn, so the aphids will be able to get to their 

 forac:c readily. 



Some ants often build little sheds of earth to protect their Ccittle, 

 The ants care for the eggs of the aphids over winter, shifting them r.bout, 

 as they do their ov;n young, from upper to lower rooms according to changes 

 in temperature and moisture in the ground. 



All that is mighty nice for the ants and aphids — the ants get 

 the surplus honeydew food and the aphids get the care and attention, out 

 it is not always so good for the plants. 



There are other kinds of ants with other activities just as 

 interesting. No wonder Solomon was fasciriated by their industry. Ants 

 have been a fascination to many men; and an cxasperatioc to many more. 



