San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-08-31
Sir John Lubbock on Ants and Bees.


John Lubbock; and yet it is not dill
cult to trace q certain thread OF contin-
uity running through all the subjects
TO which he devotes his leisure with
such excellent effect. For example,
his researches into the origin OF civil
ization and into the habits OF ants ana
bees, diverse as they appear, Lave stiii
this point in common, that both deal
with the evolution of social communi-
ties from lower sporadic types OF life
Indeed, he holds that, though the an
thropoid apes approach nearest OF all
animals to man in bodily structure, the
ants may fairly rank next to us in social
organization and in general lnteih-
gence. They even show certain indi,
cations of progressive development
within their own class; for some ruder
species live mainly by the chase, like
hunting savages; other more highly
evolved types have domesticated tne
aphides, and SO resemble the pastoral
races of mankind; while still higher
kinds, such as the harvesting ants, nave
reached the agricultural stage OF civlliz'
alton. Their marked division OF LABOR
their institution of slavery, their elao-
crate architecture, and their regular
roadways, all bring into strong relief
the analogy of their nests to human So
cieties.
When Sir John Lubbock began his
experiments he intended to conduct
them chiefly with bees and wasps. lie
con found however, that those sting
ing and flying insects were unpieas-
antly excitable in temper, and that anus
were much easier creatures to observe
from every point of view. 10 ants ac-
cordingly, the larger part OF the Vol,
ume is devoted. The particulars about
the different modes of fighting adopted
by the various species, their manner OF
building, their athletic games' their
drunken actions, are often ludlcrously
quaint in their suggestivensss OF hu-
man analogies. Even more SO are the
facts as to their domestic animals
which Sir John Lubbock has very spe-
cially Investigated. Besides the aphldes'
which they milk as COWS Co adopt Inc
usual simile), and whose eggs they pre-
served through the winter, they Keep
several other domesticated insects, be-
longing to over 500 species. Most OF
them, including the two commonest'
beetle and a wood-louse, have lived so
long in their underground homes that
they have become quite blind by dlsuse
of their eyes; many of them seem to
produce secretions which the ants eat;
while others appear to act as scavengers'
or to emit agreeable odors. In some
cases the insects are so helpless that they
have to be fed by their masters. Equal
" curious are the relations subslstlng
between the different kinds OF ants
themselves. One small species lives
in the walls which partition the nests
of q larger neighbor; and these occa-
sionally carry off the Larvae OF thelr IN
voluntary hosts as food. In another
case a smaller kind seem to be kept
like cats by its bigger kinsmen. SUCH
instances, together with the common
theft of pupe, help to explain the origin
of ant-slaver; for stolen pup@ are Of
ten kept for awhile before being de-
voured-iust as among cannibal savages
slaves may have arisen from the habit
of keeping and fattening any surplus
captives taken in battle and not imme-
diately required for food. The facts
as to the eggs occasionally laid by
workers, both among ants and bees,
from which males are always Matched,
seem full of significance for the solu-
ton of famous problem in evolution
how worker bees can inherit their
insti nets from an unbroken ancestry Of
queens and drones, none of whom ever
them. If the workers eggs
Matched out workers, they would, of
C oarse, enter very little, or not at all,
into the pedigree of the nest or hive.
But through their male offspring they
may really contribute regularly to keep
I'D the standard of instinct in their
race.
Sir John Lubbock has watched his
ants, bees and wasps hour after hour