bigger and stronger jaws than a worker 
ant. Among ants that have no special 
soldiers, the worker ants must do the 
work of soldiers. They must protect the 
ant hill from invasion and fight off 
enemies. 
The guard taps almost all the ants as 
they come up to the doorway. Its feelers 
go over them lightly as a detective goes 
over a criminal to see if he’s hiding a 
gun. But the guard is not searching for 
weapons. It is looking for strange smells. 
That is how the ants tell friends from 
enemies. All ants who belong in this 
ant hill have the same smell, while 
strange ants have different smells. The 
guard will not let any stranger in. 
The stranger does not always mean 
harm. Sometimes it is simply lost, and 
is seeking another home. For all ants 
must live with other ants. They cannot 
live alone. If an ant loses its home and 
cannot find another, it will die. But the 
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