THE LIFE OF AN ANT.
In ant-hills we find drone ants, queen ants, and worker ants. The drone ants have no sting and do no work. Their bodies are longer and more slim than those of queens. The drone ants have wings.
A House in a Hill.
The queen ants also have wings. They have stings, and their bodies are round and dark.
The workers are smaller than queens and drones. They are also darker, and have no wings and no stings. Workers are of two sizes, large and small. They are the builders, nurses, soldiers, and servants of the others.
In an ant-hill there may be many queens at one time. Often the ant-queens work. They are both mothers and queens. They will also act as soldiers. The queen ant is not like the queen bee, who will allow no other queen to live near her. I think mother ant a better term than queen ant.
The word “queen” may make you think that this ant rules the rest. That is not so. Ants have no leader and no ruler. Each ant seems to act as it pleases.
The chief work of the queen ant is to lay eggs. In a short time, out of each egg comes a lively, hungry, little baby ant. It is called a larva. A larva is like a small white worm.
This little being needs to be washed, fed, kept warm and dry, and taken into the air and sun. It must be cared for, very much as the baby in your home is cared for.