Handbook of Nature-Study · Lesson XCV · Topic 15: Ants
95. Field observations on ants
Goal: Your child can find ants' nests, describe how ants carry food and care for their young, and watch ants tending aphids.
You'll need
- A field, yard or park with flat stones
- A few cracker crumbs
- A hand lens (magnifying glass)
- A nature notebook and a pencil (colored pencils if you have them)
What's in the book
Comstock's essay "The Ways of the Ant": nests under stones and in mounds, the young in their stages, ants of different sizes, food processions, the winged kings and queens, ants that keep aphids as herds, and ants that raid other nests and take their young. Then Lesson XCV's leading thought, method and fourteen questions for a summer of watching.
The lesson, step by step
When and where
Comstock's method: write out the questions in May or June and answer them by watching through the summer. Look under flat stones in sunny fields, along sidewalk cracks, and on plants with aphids.
Safety first
Ants bite, and some sting. In the South, fire ants build loose mounds of soil and sting fiercely: never disturb a mound, and keep shoes on. Lift a stone by tipping its far edge up toward you, look quickly, and put it back gently the way it was.
Keep the big idea in mind
Comstock's "leading thought" is the one idea the lesson is meant to lead to. Read it to yourself now, and save it to share at the end, after your child has looked and answered:
However aimless to us may seem the course of the ant as we see her running about, undoubtedly if we understood her well enough, we should find that there is rational ant-sense in her performances.
Find the nests
Where do you find ants' nests? Describe all the different kinds you have found. In what sort of soil do they make their nests? Describe the entrance to the nest.
Lift one flat stone.
When the nest is disturbed, how do the ants act? Do they usually try to save themselves alone? Do they seek to save their young at the risk of their own lives?
Big ones and little ones
Make notes on the difference in appearance of eggs, larvæ and pupæ in any ants' nest.
How many sizes of ants do you find living in the same nest?
Then put the stone back.
Carrying the load
Drop a few crumbs near a busy ant trail and wait.
What objects do you find ants carrying to their nests? Are these for food? How does an ant manage to carry an object larger than herself? Do you ever see two ants working together carrying the same load?
If you find a procession of ants carrying food to their nest, note if they follow the same path coming and going.
Ants and their herds
Find a plant with aphids and ants on it.
Watch carefully to see how the ant touches the aphid when she wishes the honey-dew.
If you disturb aphids which have ants tending them, note whether the ants attempt to defend or rescue their herds.
Nature notebook
Draw an ant carrying something bigger than herself, and a little map of the ant trail from the crumbs to the nest. Read the leading thought aloud and ask your child what "ant-sense" they saw today.
Afterwards
Keep the questions in the notebook all summer and add an answer whenever you see something. Watch especially for a swarm of winged ants on a warm day (question 9).