THE LIVING WORLD. 
267 
The Aculeatce include ants, wasps and bees. The ants are called Formicidce ; 
their eggs are elongated and yellowish white, and require about a month for being 
hatched. The larvae are little grubs, conical-shaped and without legs. They 
are classified by the nurses and changed from room to room as their necessi¬ 
ties demand. In a few months the larvae develop into pupae, and after three 
or four weeks into ants. The classes among ants have been thus described: 
“ The workers are without wings and ocelli, and the thorax is narrow. The 
males and females have wings and ocelli—the female shedding her wings after 
pairing. The female has but six segments to the abdomen, the male, seven. 
It is believed that at the pleasure of the ants a given egg may be developed 
into a queen or into a worker. Ants build in different styles and of various 
material; they live in a single dwelling, or form settlements; they dig tunnels 
and construct roads. In some parts of Europe they are protected by law because 
of their destruction of other insects.” 
Ants make their toilets either unaided or with the assistance of others, 
which use their legs as 
scrapers ; they teach not only 
the lesson of industry, but 
that of cleanliness in the 
person and in the dwelling. 
They never suppose that 
“ out of sight is out of mind,” 
and instead of allowing refuse 
to accumulate in their streets 
and alleys, at once remove it 
to a distance from which it 
cannot possibly poison their 
lives. 
The illustration on page 
271 shows the ants closing 
the entrance to their dwell¬ 
ing, immuring their queen. 
Military affairs display 
no special resort to strategy, 
but the formation of lines 
of battle, and the hand-to- 
hand contests in which attacking ants engage, show a martial ardor, courage, 
and a knowledge of the fact that where discipline is equal, the victory will fall 
to the most numerous. Their movements in battle are wonderful to see, mani¬ 
festing precision, strategy, and great courage, from which great generals might 
learn much contributive to the science of war. When the clash of battle occurs, 
however, ants are no longer regardful of the importance of concentrating their 
forces for simultaneous action, but follow up the fight in a now apparently 
disorganized body, each one acting independently. We therefore see them 
fighting in couples, while others are running off. with the captives they have 
made. These battles are always caused by the invasion of an ant hill, being 
the result of piratical enterprises, in which the invaders despoil their enemies 
for plunder and slaves, the latter being taken away in the larval state and raised 
up for servitude under the direction of females appointed for their training. 
blood drop (.Zygcena lonicercz). 4. lin¬ 
den moth (Smerinthus tines'). 20. Watch 
2# moth (Gallenia mellonella). 18. flour 
moth (Asopea farnialis). 17. green leaf (Geometra papi/ionaria). 
