← Handbook of nature-study for teachers and parents, Volume 1
Chapter 200
Lesson XCVII
Observations of Ants in an Artificial Nest
Leading thought—The ants are very devoted to their young and perhaps the care of them is the most interesting feature in the study of the artificial nest.
Method—Have, in the schoolroom, a Lubbock’s nest with a colony of ants within it, with their larvæ in all stages, and if possible, their queen. For observing the form of the ant, pass one or two around in a vial.
Observations—1. What is there peculiar about the shape of the ant’s body? Can you see which section bears the legs? Are the ants’ legs long compared with her body? Can she run rapidly?
2. Look at the ant’s head through a lens, and describe the antennæ, the jaws and the eyes.
3. Note how the ant keeps her antennæ in motion. Note how she gropes with them as a blind person with his hands. Note how she uses them in conversing with her companions.
4. How does the ant clean her antennæ? Does she clean them more often than any other part of her body? How does she make her toilet?
5. See how an ant eats syrup. How do ants feed each other?
6. How does the ant carry an object? How does she carry a larva or a pupa? Have you ever seen one ant carry another? If so, describe it.
7. Note the way the ants feed their young. How do they keep them clean? Does an ant carry one egg or one small larva at a time or a bundle of them? How do you suppose the bundle is fastened together?
8. Describe an egg, a larva and a pupa of the ant and tell how they differ. Do you know which ant is the mother of the larvæ in the nest?
9. Do you find larvæ of different sizes all together in your nest? Do you find larvæ and pupæ in the same group? Do the ants move the young often from one nest to another? Why do you suppose they do this?
10. Note how the ant nurses take care of the callow ant when it is coming out from the pupa skin. How do they assist her and care for her? How do they lead her around? How do ants look when resting?
11. Note where the ants throw the refuse from the nest. Do they ever change the position of this dump heap?