September, 1907 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



359 



the illustration a breeding-cave of a mother of ants, and a 

 little fungus-garden in it. How did it get in? From the old 

 nest the little Atta female took along in the back part of her 

 mouth-cavity a tiny globular flock as a nucleus. This flock 

 consists of filaments of fungus and chopped-leaf material, 

 and furnishes the foundation for a new fungus-garden. In 

 the first days the fungus ball is picked to pieces; the indi- 

 vidual parts grow, and in from eight to ten days they form 

 a disk half an inch in diameter. After twenty days more 

 the fungus-garden measures nearly an Inch, and already 

 shows at the edge clusters of globules. The queen ant 



plants the fourteen-day-old garden with about a hundred 

 eggs. The question now arises. Where, then, does the 

 fungus get the nourishment for growth? At first scarce a 

 fiftieth of an inch big, it soon measures an inch. The mother- 

 ant is all alone, never leaves the cave; so neither does there 

 come in the pieces of leaves, which normally, chopped, soaked 

 and kneaded, serve the fungus as fostering soil. With 

 what, then, is the little fungus-garden manured? Huber 

 observed that the mother-ant tears out flocks of fungus 

 with her mandibles, and, sitting on her hind pair of legs, 

 presses against her turned-in hinder body, from which a 



Scenes from the Life of an Ant 



Red weaver-ants repairing a rent in their nest 

 Sagittal section of the head of a little Alia 

 female 



The mother-ant manuring the fungus-garden 



(instantaneous views) 

 So-called cluster of globules 



Breeding-cave 



Feeding larvae, 

 showing dif- 

 ferent stages 

 of assimilat- 

 ing an egg 



Fourteen-day manured fungus-garden with about one hun- 

 dred eggs 



Breeding-cave. Vertical section of a cave of Atta sexJeiis 



(excavated in the open air) 

 Sagittal section of head, with changed position of fungus-ball 

 Female working red weaver-ant 



