The sun., 1879-02-23
am JOHN LUBBOCK on ANFn
Recent Hnterestin9 Experiments niustrating
their Intelligence.


Prom thl LoaLgn 7irs
Sir John LubbOclr rehd two papers on ants
before thn 1Iinna,nn BoGiety on Thursday even
ing, He observed that he had at first isolhed
his nests by means Of water This WINS effectual
enough, hut. esnecinllyi in summer, the wator
hegn,reI 70 d pc contn9giy Ten9wed, keTner.
seryed TO prevent nnis from obtaining accessiio
the honey. and IL aqeordHely occgrred to him
that. .strins OF fur nrrane1Ni With the polntB OF
] the hairs downward might answer his purpose.
be had tried this. md. nnding 1t successtul, he
'thoughta similar qrronRcfncnt might perhaps
d. found useful In hot countries.
II is generally stated thHtth queen ants alone
lay eggs. but SIR John has found that in most Of
his meets some few OF tho workers nre capable
,of doing so. These cgCs nlwnys produce males.
In the case Of hcpa we know that the queen s
fed on u SPECIAL kind Of food. In ants II II not
feasible to mako observations similar TO those
by which in bees this has been. established. IL
is however. rendered more than probnble by
tho faqt that, while malrs and workers have
lns yet bonn produced. NJ. Lespes has given n
short but interesting account OF some expert
between ants and their domestic ami.
l9als. from. which II might be inferred
that even within tho limits Of a single species
some communities aro more advanced than
Others. HS found TINT specimenso of the curious
h'nd beetle claviger, which always occurs with
niger TO nnoihcr which kent none of these do,
meslic bgetlrs, were inYnriably attacked and
nhccssTy to keep clayigcrs is n6 coeXtensiye
with the species. but belongs only to cerlain
communities nnd races whirh. 50 TO say, are
lnore advanced in ciyilization than the rest OF
ihe species. Sir John Lubbock, however. re-
moved specimens of the curious blind phitynr
thcrus from one npst TO nnotber, but they were
always nmicably received. Ureven transferred
specimens from ancst OF laaius flavus 20 one of
i6rmica fusca. with tho same result.
, AS regards the longevity OF ants he has now
two qnnrns of formca lusca which stTm quite
10 good health. and VIII lch have lived with him
yinrs old liz las also workers Of flnsius niger.
iolnica sanguinea, forinica fusca. nnd f0rinica
cinera, which he hns had under observation
among themseives, he Ind never suen any evil
dpneo OF III tomper ia amy Of his nests. Ai is
hhrmony. In ono Of his nests Of fOrmica fusca
WAS poer ant which Ind come into the world
without antenna. Never having previously
met with such cnse hewatched her with great
intprest but she never appeared to leave tho
MIST. Al length. one day he found her wander
ing about in an, aimlcss sort OF manner, and
apparently not knowing her way ut nll. After
IA while she fell in with some specimons Of
lasius navus. who directly attacked her. He
then sei himscifto separate then; but she was
evidently much wounded.and lay hclli'ss ON
the ground. After some time another tormtca
fusca from her most came by. She examined
tho poor sufferer carefully. then picked her up
tanderly and carried hcr away into the nest. 1t
would have been difficult. Sir John thinks. for
any one who witnessed this scenato have de.
nicd TO this ant tho possession OF human feel
iDgs. Ii is clear. from the experiments recorded
IN the present and in Sir Johns former papers.
that tho ants recognize ali their follows in tho
same nest. but IL is very difficult to understand
hbw this can bo effected.
The nests vary very mucn in sise. but In some
species 10000 individuals may probably be by
nj means an unusual number. ana in some in
stances even this ia largely exceeded. Now. It
seems almost incredible that in such cnses
every ant knows every other ono by sight /;
neither does II seem possible TINT all the ants in
each nest should be characterized from those OF
other nests by any peculiarly. IL hns been
sngRcsted in tho case OF bees that caeh nest
might have some sign or password. IL oc-
Cared 10 Sir John. however that experiments
with pupR might throw sOme light ON the sub
l~t. Although tho ants OF every nest, say OF
tdrmica lusGa. are deadly enemies to others.
ncst arc transferred to another they
are kindly received. and tended with ap-
pArentiy IA much care rs II they really bc-
Hinged to tho nostl In ant warfare. though
ls,st. when they belong TO the same species
Moreover. though the habits and dispositions
OF ants are greatly changed II thoy arc taken
away from their nest and Kept in solitary con
inement or only with n towiriends, still in such
circumstances they will carefully tend any
young which may be conndcd to them Now. IL
the recognition were eiectod by means OF some
signal or password. then. as II can hardly be
Supposed that the larvG or pupW would be sum-
ciently Intelligent 10 appreciate. still less TO re-
member IT, tho pupn which. were intrustod to
ants from anothcrs nest would have the pass
| word. II any, OF that nest, and not OF the one
recognition were effected by some password or
! sign with the antenuW. they would be amiGtbly
! received in tho nest from which their nurses
| hnd bern taken. but not in their own.
! He therefore took anumber OF pupm out oi
! some % his nests OF formica fusca and lasius
niger and put them III small glisSes. some Win
| ants from their own nest. some with ants OF
! another nest Of the same species The results
| were that thlrty-twO ants belonging to formica
! iusca and lasius niger. removed from their nest
| ne pupa, attended 10y friends and restored Ia
| thor own most, wore all amicahy received.
! Nhut i stu more remarkable, OF twenty-five
ante belonging TO formca fusca removed ms
| pnpa, attended by strangers. and returned to
| their own nest twepV were amicably received.
| A. regards ono, Sir John was doubtful: the
! list was crippled in coming out OF the pupI
| case, and to this. perhaps. her unfriondly re-
! ception may have been due. Otthe same num-
Der OF lasius niger. developed in tho same
manner. from pupn tended by strangers he
! longing TO the same species. and then returned
! into their own nest. seventeen ware amicab,y
received threa were attacked about Two Sir
John felt doubtful. On the other hand. fifteen
specimens belonging TO tho same two species
removed as pupa- tended by strangers belong
ing To the same two species, and then put into
the strangers nest. were all attacked.
Tho results may DO summarized nS follows
1Nvp brought up by friends and replaced in
their own nost-aitacked. q; received amcahlv.
-. Pupw broughtup Nv strangers and put in
own ncst--nttacked. iabout ofthcse Sir John
did not feel surel: received amicably. 81 PupP
hfought up by Strangers and put in strangers
ntst-nttackad, is; received amicably, q. Sir
John intends to make further experiments in
this direction, but the above results seem very
interesting. They appear to Indicate that ants
ot ono nest do not recognize one another by any
password. On the other hand. il ants are re-
moved from nest in the pupw state. tended by
strangers, and then restored. some at least Of
their relatives are certainly puzzled, and in
many cases doubt their claim to consanguinity.
Strangers in the samo circumstances would be
Immediately attacked. These ants, on the con
trtry, were in every ease, sometimes, however.
after examination. amicaby received by the ma.
lorlty OF the colony, and ii WAS often several
hours before they came across one who did not
Recognize them.
4 Heauest In Trust for The Heneat OF Hor.e.