During all this time there was great commotion in the colony. The worker ants were scurrying off with the younger members of the family, trying to find a safe place for them. Some of these little brothers and sisters were tiny white legless creatures; some were covered up in what looked like little bags; others were ghost-like things, very white and apparently lifeless. Now before you can understand what is going on in an ant's nest, you must know four things: 1. The white oblong eggs are very small. You will not see them readily. 2. The little legless creatures, or larvæ, hatch from the eggs and are fed by the workers. Mrs. Comstock says that an ant larva looks like a crook-neck squash. 3. The larvæ either spin cocoons or rest awhile without any covering before they become fully grown ants. In their resting form they are called pupæ. Children usually think the little sack-like pupæ are the eggs. 4. The fully grown ants come from the pupæ. [Illustration: _Fig. 356. Making a home for ants._] We want every Junior Naturalist Club to have an ant's nest in the school room and to observe the following: In time of danger do the ants look to their own safety first? Watch the workers feed and clean the young. Try to see an ant help a younger relative out of the pupa skin. Notice how many uses the ants seem to have for their antennæ or feelers. Has it ever seemed to you that ants carry on a conversation when they meet? See how many different kinds of ants you can find out-of-doors, Tell us about their homes. HOW TO MAKE AN ANT'S NEST. In the illustration (Fig. 356) you will see an ant's nest. For this kind of nest you will need a plank, near the outside edge of which is a deep groove. The plank should be painted; can you tell why? In the center use two pieces of glass laid flat and separated by narrow sticks along each side, so that they are about one-eighth of an inch apart. The sticks should not come close together at one corner. This leaves a little doorway for the ants. Cover the top glass with black paper or cloth so that the space between the two pieces of glass may seem a nice, dark, safe room in which ants may live. It will be a good thing to keep a small piece of damp blotting paper in one corner of this room in case the workers want a moist place for the young ones. Fill the groove in the plank with water and the nest is ready. The best ant colony to take indoors is the one that you find under stones in a pasture. With a trowel lift up the ants, pupæ, larvæ, and sand and put the contents carefully into a pint can. When you reach the schoolroom put the contents of the can on the plank and watch what happens. If the ants do not find the room you have made for them, place a few larvae and pupæ within it. They will probably find them. Do not neglect to provide food for the colony. Ants like to eat cracker soaked in sweetened water, bread, cake, berry jams, sugar, bits of raw meat, yolk of hard-boiled egg, and custard.