272 LIFE AND HER CHILDREN. 
and feeding of the young, the building of new 
chambers, the tending of their flocks and herds, the 
defence of the nest, or the formation of new colonies 
— all labour amicably together, without any apparent 
government, and yet without confusion or disorder. 
Now before we can understand how it is that 
these little insects have advanced so far beyond 
others of their class, we must first inquire what are 
the chief weapons with which life has provided them, 
and to what use they are put. Although ants are 
such common insects that there is scarcely a garden 
without them, and even many of our houses are 
overrun by them, yet probably very few people have 
ever examined one carefully, or tried to understand 
its very peculiar shape ; and if you can catch cne 
wandering about the garden or feeding in the store- 
cupboard, and put it under a magnifying glass, you 
will be astonished to find how much there is to learn 
about it. 
First notice the ringed abdomen common to all 
insects, and the very fine stalk by which it is joined 
to the rest of the body, allowing it to bend easily in 
all directions. If you have taken the garden-ant* 
this stalk will be made of one knob or ring, as it is 
also in the hill-ant (F, Fig. 91), while, if you have 
the tiny reddish-yellow house-ant t (M), there' will be 
two knobs ; and by this you may know at once that 
the house-ant has a sting, while the garden one has 
not ; for in England all the ants with one knob, ex- 
cept one single genus,| have no sting. Next notice 
the three-ringed thorax bearing the six legs. On 
each side of this are three breathing holes, which, 
* Lasius niger. t Myrmica molesta. % Ponera. 
