. Ants; their structure, development and behavior. to a thirdwhich she caressed in the same manner. The liquid was voided imme-diately and received by the ant. She moved on ; a fourth, probablyalready exhausted, refused to respond to her solicitations and the divining that she had nothing to expect, quitted this aphid fora fifth from which I saw her obtain a further supply of food. A few such repasts are quite sufficient, and the satiated ant returnsto the nest. Thereupon I watched the other ants that had remainedbehind on the thistle, and they were seen to present the same scene.
. Ants; their structure, development and behavior. to a thirdwhich she caressed in the same manner. The liquid was voided imme-diately and received by the ant. She moved on ; a fourth, probablyalready exhausted, refused to respond to her solicitations and the divining that she had nothing to expect, quitted this aphid fora fifth from which I saw her obtain a further supply of food. A few such repasts are quite sufficient, and the satiated ant returnsto the nest. Thereupon I watched the other ants that had remainedbehind on the thistle, and they were seen to present the same scene. Ialways noticed that the arrival of the ants and the stroking of theirantenna? preceded the evacuation of the liquid, and that the attitudeof the plant-lice, with their heads directed downward, seemed to beassumed for this very purpose. I witnessed this remarkable procedurethousands and thousands of times; it was always employed by the antswith the same success whenever they wished to obtain food from the RELATIONS Ol: AXTS TO OTHER INSECTS. 343. aphids. If the latter are too long neglected, they discharge the honey-dew on the leaves, where the returning ants find and collect it, beforethey approach the insects by which it was voided. But if the antsvisit the aphids assiduously, the latter seem to comply with their desiresby hastening the moment of evacuation. This is indicated by thediameter of the exuded droplet; and atsuch times they do not eject the ant-manna to a distance, but, so to speak,retain and hand it over to their attendants. It sometimes happens that the antsare so numerous on a particular plant thatthey exhaust the aphids with which itis covered. Under such circumstancesthey stroke the bodies of their nurses invain and are compelled to wait till thesehave pumped up a fresh supply of sapfrom the stems. The aphids are by nomeans parsimonious, and if they have any-thing to give, never fail to respond to theants solicitations. I have repeatedly seenthe same aphid yi
Size: 1370px × 1825px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectants, bookyear1910
