, 1880-12-26
INSECT CONSERVATISM.
More Stories from SIR John Lubbock
Relative to the Wonderful Instincts
nf Ants.

More Stories from SIR John lubbock
Relative to the Wonderful Instincts
OF ant'' rond,, s,,,,o,o,
,,,,no,. ,,,,,, certainlv earn tbe nraiso
M o", ,or. f.cts ,,Don which W., nav
found reasonable differences as to tho intel
lcctuul cnrractcr Of the ant, than all his acute
nr,.,lccessors in tho same field put together And
his latest published oosersa1ons on Inc spo1ect.
communicated to the Linnnan Society, and
printed In their transactions" contain somo
" 10 'Nass ~ ~ no.co,et,a,5 hn,1ovo
es1oent. ooes not' i.Ae no.u oeaSou, ,,," ue".e
merely In race' but on the contrary m IKE ne
~ =, bfo chin hc,tovcs chiefly in famfly and
W ~ s.t n.a tu'l' ",a has sho,vn nnch moro
amazing instincts than any English Squire
in Discrimination the progeny Of one group
ri families from tho progeny of another, That
-. strI,r'ro mt 1hougb NJ The sanno species. nut
stFanee aut, eaousu u |no 0an4o spoe1es' w.
into any nest, will be az onco attacxeo ano
killed, Sir John Lubbock has proved again and
,,,of, IIka .bo English rustic who On assuring
.f,. ....s .,, :, . strorrcr ~ sta dia+r;ct
a'l'7e. tNat u'aA 80 .,sas,.n ,o,t ,>.,o,- 49,
in thn ats NV no regard to Species ut a
IL they lind an ant VINO eannot trace m1s oescent
to thor own nest 1ntrnalng Upon IT, Lney make @
tinction between aliens OF their heir own species and
alaeus OF announcer specles; tsas eau .gna a 1noo
thing appears 10 DC tle'a spets" tns.haGI .ha;
own tribe. SIT JONI Luoo9cR sepLlaIea
into two parts N fcpfuary' to.a, hesI ol
anH wnlcn conu1lntu IVY 4aeens' fN.nS
abt5tt tho same number OF ants anu one
9ncrn to ech. IA feorty a9 5 ne5s eoea.ns ..s
neither young nor eggs, SO that the DIVISION was
made before t9o eaaes, % 8Ke ~ nr hn cen ens
begun TO lay csRs. III July, or Jonh Luootck
tok lot Of pnpc from .ensnt eaon alsls,o a;aa.
with viii attendants from the same division Of the
nest. At the end Ut August he took four prcvi-
ously marked ants from the pupse uEea to one
and one previously marked ant from 1he pupac
bred In tho second division and put 1t Into tho
1lrst; In both cases tho ants, which co4ld never
Of tho ants ln that dlyision' WeFc wei
coined as friends, cleared OF T. Sir Johns
punt ana accepted as @ nd OF me gs,n nt
whenever stranger was introduced alter tne
same fashion. it WIS immediately attacked and
ably u series Of less crucial experiments former
~ made by Sir John Lubboek on the same sub
jeet n 3 eenSo 3s tnG
In the first degrcc,-of those Which have once
belonged to their own nest, even thouEh they
were neither born nor thought OF when tholr
parents left tho nest 30 mucn Tor tne prolouhu
instinct Of consanguintty in the ant. as wen us
for the uuconquerable hostility they show to
those nnts VINO 9fe not eonneeaed 9e w w1t9 5 sne'
But now ,a3 lo the intense political conserva-
tsm which this bigoted sort Of family feeling
prDuuCCS. C1l touH A10ot'oCh LAO eA'oCoN Stc<s ~
appears, that once let an ants' nest get accus.
toned to living without Il quecn,-once lct 1t
orEunize democratic instituuons,-an nothing
Queens introduced into queenless nests were
always rnthlesy killed, even though In one
ease Sir John exhibited the queen for three
days to tho nnt-dotnoc1sc} IN q Wlro cage which
protected her from chen IN order to accustom
them to the ssns ,t oi foSa!1s nno en-
cne %es tccked and slain lust
II she had been an oruinary n!len; Sir
John, however, was occasionally able, by the
Muhon kind, but more succcssful--to obtain II
throne for wandering queen The way he
managed was TINS: nc took Q rev ants from
state, with IL strange queen. The ants were
then In timorous and di!fitent mood. They
hnd no fixed institutions to fall back upon. They
felt Wanderers III the world. anu feeling TINS
they did not attack tho queen, but rather re-
garded her Us the nuclens OF posslble organiza-
on by hns srunay & aaaGg as icy iew nta ants At
the queen as the starting point for now polity,
~ snccsedcd.", !says Sir John' "in securing the
gid 1s Wsiea IS e % as ne
ca,,ses or eIectsMt Is lifIsuit to say which-of
nectcd With conservatism, affects these wonder,
ful little creatures also. sirJohn shows us most
satisfactorily that the ants understand @ each 9th.
food which she Is nnabio by her own strength to
stir, she can and does comm4nlcate IL soms way
u her fclloW-hnts 1no ncca u uelp. ihey clear
" understand her message, anu they prepare to
nssist her; but they have. It appears;, no rea!
conndence IN ner lntornaIon. Mhat taey
tho utmost earnestness. but what thoy
learn from others they do not more
than half beiieve. They Usually go with the
messenger. bur they go without any real clan,
without any of that eurncstness which they dis
play after getting personal experience Vt tho
existence OF the store OF food After that they
are all urgency. After that they outrun their
fellows nnd cannot reach the store Of pro-
visions too soon. Hut on tho hearing OF the eur
but so slowly that they never Keep up with their
eager guide. soon drop behind. and xeneraliy
give up Tue expeu,uon as one one oeyonu thelr
courage or strength. or at 1enst too much Tor
their half-faith: Let Us hear Sir Johns curious
Of the SOFT OF ~ au.nosty %hie6 vi one
ants:
'l selected specimen OF Atta M testaceo-pilosa,