StNicholas [serial] . ANTS CUTTING OFF LEAVES OF THE COTTONWOOD. as long as my little finger nail. Each leaf washeld in the mandibles of an ant in such a way asto conceal the body of the insect, and the antswere coming down the tree. The discovery cameupon me with a shock. I had stumbled on a nestof umbrella-ants. Books had told me that suchants were found in the tropics, where they carriedbits of leaves over their heads as if to protectthemselves from the sun; but here, on the banksof a Texas river, I had found a colony of them,. THE HEAD OF A LEAF-CUTTING ANT. To show the sharp, saw-like jaw
StNicholas [serial] . ANTS CUTTING OFF LEAVES OF THE COTTONWOOD. as long as my little finger nail. Each leaf washeld in the mandibles of an ant in such a way asto conceal the body of the insect, and the antswere coming down the tree. The discovery cameupon me with a shock. I had stumbled on a nestof umbrella-ants. Books had told me that suchants were found in the tropics, where they carriedbits of leaves over their heads as if to protectthemselves from the sun; but here, on the banksof a Texas river, I had found a colony of them,. THE HEAD OF A LEAF-CUTTING ANT. To show the sharp, saw-like jaws. (Redrawn from Tenants of an Old Farm.) shading themselves where there was no sun, andcompletely hidden by their covering of green. Charmed at the sight, I turned back to call mycompanions, who were fishing in the river. igoS.] NATURE AND SCIENCE FOR YOUNG FOLKS 361 Within a few yards, I met my husband comingto look for me. He was even more excited overthe phenomenon than I was, and shouted for theothers to come quickly. On investigation wefound that the spot where the vine seemed tohave its root was really the opening of the ant-nest. The tiny creatures had by some instinctlearned that the topmost branches of the cotton-wood had put out their first small leaves. Theyhad climbed the immense distance and had cut offand brought down their leaves—to feed theiryoung ones, we supposed. The ants which issuedempty-jawed from the nest made a long circuit tothe farther side of the tree and climbed up wherethey would not interfe
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Keywords: ., bookauthordodgemar, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1873
