Follow the ants,
they show us how to work hard.
Ants
There are bugs that crawl
Many of them will fall
Like the ants that carry all
No matter how many times he will stall.
Silver Ant
A FUNERAL PROCESSION OF ANTS.
ONE day a little boy of mine, about
four years old, being tired of play,
threw himself down on a grassy
mound to rest. Shortly after, I was
startled by a sudden scream. My instant thought was that some serpent
had stung him. I flew in horror to
the child, but was at once reassured
on seeing him covered with soldier
ants, on whose nest he had laid himself
down. Numbers of the ants were
still clinging to him with their forceps,
and continuing to sting him. My
maid at once assisted me in killing
them. At length, about twenty were
thrown on the ground. We then carried
the boy indoors.
In about half an hour I returned to the
same spot, where I saw a large number
of ants surrounding the dead ones.
I determined to watch their proceedings
closely. I followed four or five
that started from the rest toward a
hillock a short distance off, in which was
an ants' nest. There they entered, and
in about five minutes reappeared,
followed by others. All fell into rank,
walking regularly and slowly two by
two, until they arrived at the spot
where lay the dead bodies of the
soldier ants. In a few minutes two of
the ants advanced and took up the
dead body of one of their comrades;
then two others, and so on, until all
were ready to march. First walked
two ants bearing a body, then two
witnout a burden; then two others
with another dead ant, and so on, until
the line was extended to about
forty pairs, and the procession moved
slowly onward, followed by an
irregular body of about 200 ants.
Occasionally the laden ants stopped,
and putting down the dead ant, it was
taken up by the two walking
unburdened behind them; and thus by
occasionally relieving each other, they
arrived at a sandy spot near the sea.
The body of ants now commenced
digging, with their jaws, holes in the
ground; into each of these a dead ant
was laid, after which they labored on
until they had filled up the ants'
graves. This did not quite finish the
remarkable circumstances attending
this funeral of the ants. Some six or
seven of the ants attempted to run off
without performing their share of the
task of digging; these were caught
and brought back, when they were at
once killed upon the spot. A single
grave was quickly dug, and they were
all dropped into it.
Franc Suckland.
Army Ant
Army Ants
THE LEGIONARY ANT.
AMONG the various species of ants, there is, perhaps, none more calculated to excite our curiosity and arouse our admiration than the legionary ant, a species found in Southern Europe. The following account of their operations from "Work Days of God, or Science and the Bible,"
by Herbert W. Morris, D. D., will perhaps be interesting and instructive to the readers:—
"The legionary ants live in great part by plunder, and enslaving ants of another class. The history of one of their marauding expeditions, as given by Huber, is full of interest, and will serve to convey an idea of their general character.
Whilst walking in the environs of Geneva, toward the close of a fine summer's day, 'I observed,' says he, 'close at my feet, traversing the road, a column of legionary ants. They moved with considerable rapidity, and occupied a space of from eight to ten inches in length, by three or four in breadth. They soon approached a nest inhabited by a colony of the Negro ants, the dome of which rose above the grass. Some of the Negroes were guarding the entrance; but, on the discovery of an approaching army, darted forth on the advancing legion. The alarm spread instantly into the interior, whence their companions rushed forth in multitudes to defend their homes. The legionaries, the bulk of whose army lay only at the distance of two paces, quickened their march, and when they arrived at the hill, the whole battalion fell furiously upon the Negroes, who, after an obstinate though brief contest, fled to their subterranean galleries. The legionaries now ascended the dome, collected in crowds on the summit, and' taking possession of the principal avenues, left some of their companions to excavate other openings into the exterior walls. They soon effected this, and through the breach the remainder of the army made their entrance; but in about three or four minutes afterward issued forth again, each carrying a pupa, or grub, with which booty they retraced their route. On arriving at their own encampment, thus laden with the trophies of victory, their domestic servants, of the same Negro race, came forth to welcome the returning warriors, caressing them, and presenting them with food; whilst the legionaries in their turn, handed over to them their baby captives to be carried into the interior of the nest, there to be nursed and cared for until they arrived at maturity. From which it appears that the only object of these predatory expeditions, is to obtain possession of the young, while in the insensible state of pupa, or ant, baby-hood. The plunderers never make prisoners of the old Negroes. The consequence is, that all their captives become domesticated without difficulty, and become obedient and useful servants to their owners—nursing their young, transporting them from one part of the colony to another, gathering provisions, building new galleries, and acting as faithful guards and sentinels to their captors, who rest tranquilly at the bottom of their subterranean city, till the hour fixed for another expedition arrives.
To witness such performances carried on among insects, amazes, and well nigh confounds us! And the reader, while he wonders at the striking indications of intelligence which they exhibit, may be startled, and, perhaps, shocked, to discover thus a perfect system of invasion, capture, and slavery, even among ants. But a moment's reflection may serve to relieve his mind. The captives are as well off here as they would have been in their own colony; they are conscious of no degradation, and fare, in all respects, as well as their masters."
WHEN one comes to love his work, his life is a happy one.
Ants
There are a few places where you do not find ants. Have you ever been where you did not see ants crawling around the ground? The world is full of these fast hardworking crawlers. Some are black or red and some are black and red. You can find green ants and silver ants, big ones and little ones. You will find that some have wings and some do not.
A certain time of the year we start seeing these big black ants and with wings, everywhere, even in the house. It seems they just come from nowhere and all of a sudden one will hit you in the head or hit something next to you and they race around as if they do not know where they are going. They are the oddest creatures. Sometimes there are so many of them flying through the yard and crawling through the grass that you do not want to go outside. But we are thankful this season does not last forever.
The ants that live around here that are smaller than the big black ones are found in little mounds of dirt or sand with a hole in the middle going deep in the dirt and these are very tiny ants like specks of sand and are black or red. If you put your hand on the ground or stand by their hole you will soon know where you are and will soon be stamping your feet and swishing your hands. Some of them will even bite you. Then there are also the ones that are a slight bigger that these tiny ones that live under the rocks that tend to be stationary for a lengthy period of time. When their rock is turned over they will immediately start hauling off their eggs and things they have stashed away under the stone into tunnels in the ground. In the wood pile there will be found similar kinds of ants but it seems that you can see little differences in the separate colonies. These ones in the wood can be a slight bit bigger than the ones under the rocks and they will chew on the wood and make tunnels in the blocks of wood. Of course there are some who just like to find a home under the bark of the tree.
In other countries they have the ants that march in armies and eat everything that they come to in their path, even people. And they will take over your house. You have probably seen pictures of ant houses where they make big balls that look like mud huts.
inside the colony of ants they have the worker ants who are assigned their special jobs and the drones who have their duty and the soldiers. The queens can be one or many depending on the type of ant.
Ants are hard workers and take good care of one another. When an ant is first hatched out it is given the care of the most important jobs as taking care of the queen and the young because they are the strongest and most energetic and as they get older they are given the other work.
If you want to learn how to work watch the ants. He will carry something that is bigger than his own body and if he drops it he will pick it up again. It doesn’t matter how many times he will drop it he will keep picking it up until it is where he wants it.
“The ants are a people not strong, yet
they prepare their meat in the summer;”
Proverbs 30:25
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise:
Which having no guide, overseer, or ruler,
Provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.”
Proverbs 6:6-8
“South American ants have been known to construct a tunnel three miles in length, a labour proportionate to that which would be required for men to tunnel under the Atlantic from London to New York.”
December 22, 1898 EJW, PTUK 814
Some say that if you put all the ants in a pile that are in the world, and you put all the people in a pile that are in the world, that the piles would probably be about the same size.
ANTS AS DAIRYMEN.
You have heard, little readers, many things about the wise and industrious ants, but perhaps you have never been told of their dairies.
Yes, it is true; they have herds of tiny cattle, which they guard carefully, and which, in turn, supply the ants with food.
The yellow ants, it is said, collect a drove of these cattle near their homes, and there protect and even caress them. Sometimes they build for them a room around a thistle stalk, on which their cattle feed, so that the ants have only to crawl up the stalk to enter the fold.
And most carefully do they watch them there. Should an ant attempt to milk the cattle belonging to the ants of a neighboring hill, he is instantly caught and punished by the trusty herdsmen.
What are these cattle? And how can the ants obtain the milk?
They are aphides, very small insects which live on the juices of vegetables, and yield through two little tubes a sweet liquid. This liquid the ant obtains by rapidly passing its antennae, or feelers, first on one side and then on the other of these tubes, going from one insect to another until it is no longer hungry.
But the ants don't keep any milk to make butter.
Children's friend.
THE LESSON A LITTLE ANT TAUGHT.
A LITTLE girl having been given a task in needle-work by her mother, took a chair out under a shade tree in the yard, and prepared to finish it.
The surroundings out there were very pleasant.
The birds sang merrily as they flew from limb to limb the air was mild and balmy, and everything looked cheerful and bright; yet she was unhappy and discontented. She did not want to work, and, while the task was not hard, she imagined it was, and thought she was tired before she began it.
So instead of beginning at once and getting it done soon, she let her work lie idly in her lap. Then her gaze fell on a little busy ant which was trying to drag along a crumb of bread very much larger than itself, but it came to a twig which it found hard to crawl over with its burden. The ant tried to pull it over the twig, but after getting it up a little way, tumbled off. Next it tried to push the crumb over, and the burden tumbled over on it. The insect could have easily gone around the twig, but it did not seem to think of this, and went on dragging and tumbling in the same old way. Finally it got over, and proceeded on its way. This set the little girl to thinking, and she wondered what made the ant do as it had done. Something said it was perseverance, and the birds seemed to Lug over and over again "perseverance," until she picked up the sewing and was surprised to find how soon it was finished.
Often afterward, when tempted to neglect or put off some duty, the little girl thought of the ant, and whispering to herself perseverance, soon put the tempter to flight.
—Selected.
Ants
"A PEOPLE NOT STRONG."
"So your little black farmers are ants, Roy !Well, do you know, my boy, that you couldn't have pleased me better than by showing them to me It's my play to study insects, and ants are my pets among them all." And Uncle Ralph threw himself down in the shade of a tree, where he could watch them at his leisure." Good for you, Uncle Ralph," said Roy. "I suppose you can tell me lots about them, then, and I'm interested in them, too. I used to watch them when we lived in New Hampshire, but I never saw those do such curious things as these do out here in Texas."" I wonder, then, if you have learned the lesson from them which the wise king learned Roy."
"I don't know who the wise king was, Uncle Ralph. I don't know much about kings anyway.
But these little fellows are so extra busy always, that it makes me ashamed when I feel lazy. And I declare, I believe I'd like to be a farmer myself, they seem to enjoy it so. Just look at those over on that hill. See how they are tugging out the weeds. They don't let a single one grow near their ant-rice, and doesn't it look pretty waving on their little hills. Do they plant it all themselves, Uncle Ralph?
"Perhaps it sows itself, Roy.
But they certainly cultivate it, and this species is therefore called the agricultural ant. But as to the wise king, I think you know him. Didn't you learn the Primer questions: Who was the first man? “Who was the first woman?"
"Oh! Now I know, Uncle Ralph.
You mean King Solomon. I remember; mother used to ask me those questions; and one was, Who was the wisest man?'"
"Yes, Roy. He was a wise king, and a wise scholar, too. He studied plants and animals in his leisure minutes. And don't you remember what he says in Proverbs: Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways, and be wise '? But there's another verse in Proverbs which reminds us of another lesson. It says: The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.' These little creatures have more curious ways of storing up their winter food in summer than Solomon ever knew, too. In fact, they all seem to be looking forward to the future in one way or another.
And so ought we to be preparing for the future too, Roy, not only to be ready for heaven, but to be useful Christians in this life. Perhaps, if I tell you some of their ways, you will try to learnt is lesson too."
"Oh! do tell, Uncle Ralph," said Roy.
"Some store up grain for winter, as you know.
Others keep little insects in their nests, called aphides. Some people call them ant-cows, because the ants seem to milk them for a kind of sweet liquor, which they eat. They have other ways of laying up food, too ; but come! I want to show you something which I brought from Mexico."
"Oh! What are they? White currants!" ' exclaimed Roy, when his uncle opened the glass jar.
"Do they look like them?" asked his uncle.
"Not exactly. They 're too yellow; and such funny black stems."
"Eat some, Roy."
"Why-ee! They're honey-berries," he cried.
"Honey ants," replied his uncle. "They hang themselves up in the nests, and the worker ants feed them until they are round and full like these. The black stems are their heads and legs. In fact, they are made into honey jars for the other ants to feed upon."
"I 'd like to be fed on honey all my life that way."
"I think you can do better than to make a honey-jar of yourself, Roy," replied his uncle.
"These ants seem to me to be martyrs; for don't you see it causes their death? People gather and eat them, just as we eat honey-comb. But, after all, they do good and give pleasure by the means. If you can do as much, my boy, your life will be a happy one."
S. S. Times.