Unlike modern authors, Homer is not quick to reveal his personal beliefs; rather, they come about subtly, through the dialogue between two characters.
Harvester ant. Harvester ant is a common name for any of the species or genera of ants that collect seeds (called seed predation), or mushrooms as in the case of Euprenolepis procera, which are stored in the nest in communal chambers called granaries.
The Queen Harvester Ant. The hierarchy of the red harvester ant colony begins, like many other insect hierarchies, with the queen. The queen is a winged alate (an ant capable of mating) that has been fertilized by a male alate. The males generally die after mating and the queens leave to begin their own colony.