78 Insect Life : Its Why and Wherefore 
which defend the colony, and so have 
earned the title of “ soldiers.” In addition 
to other peculiarities, these defenders are 
provided with formidable mandibles, or 
jaw parts, suited either for defence or 
offence. 
Food of Ants. — It is as difficult to say 
exactly what the ant eats as to say precisely 
what it does not eat. A large number of 
species are carnivorous or flesh eating, 
and will readily consume any form of meat 
from a dead insect to the carcass of any 
large beast. They are particularly fond 
of anything sweet, and will travel long 
distances to procure the secretion of aphides 
or blight flies, which in the form of honey- 
dew they will lick up from the leaves on 
which it is deposited, or consume it straight 
from the ducts of the fly, while in the act 
of secreting. Ants are often found, too, 
helping themselves to the nectar of certain 
sweet-producing flowers, while their 
predilection for choice ripe fruit is but too 
clearly observable. 
The nest of the ant varies very much 
according to the species. Vegetable 
matter, including the “ needles ” of pine 
