The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1893-06-25
GO TO THE ANT, SLUGGARD
Interesting Study of Her Sensible Ways
by q Great Naturalist.
Well Governed Socialisiic Communities Num-
bering as Many as 100000 snG Never
Quarrel Between the Inhabitants.

England we have rather more than thirty,
most OF which have kept in confinement.
Their life is comparatively long: L have
had working ants which were seven years
old. and queen ant lived In one Of my
nerts for fifteen years.
Fee community consists in addition to
she yonng, OF males. which do no work, of
wiDgIess workers. and one or more queen
mothers. VINO have at first wings. which.
however. after one marriage flight. they
throw of, as they never leave 80. rest
again. and wings would OF cours be USE
less.
The workers do not. except occasion ally,
lay eggs. but carry on all the affairs of the
community. Some of them. and especially
the younger ones.sremain in the nest. exca-
vate cham bers and tunnels. and tend the
young. which are sorted MP according To
age. 90 that my nests often had tie 81.
paarance of q school, with the children AZ
ranged In classes.
In English ants the workers in each
species are all similar except In size. but
among foreign species there are some In
which there are two oreven more Glasses of
workers. differing greatly not only In size
but also in form.
The differences are not the result of age.
functions. the nature of which. however. is
not set we'll understood.
Among the termites those of one class
certainly seem to act soldiers. and
among the true ants also some have com.
pa-atlvely immense heads and powerful
Jaws. Bates observed that Oh foraglng
expedition the large-headed individuals
did not walk in the regular ranks, nor on
the return did they carry any booty. but
marched along the side and at tolerably
regular intervals. like subaltern officers
IN Q marching regiment"
The so-called queens are really mothers.
Nevertheless it 10 true. and IL Is curious
that the working ants and bees always
turn their heads towards the queen.
lie seems as If the sight of her gave them
pleasure.
On one occasion. while moving some ants
from one nest into another for exhibition.
/ unfortuns tsly crushed the queen and
killed her. The Others however. did not
desert her or draw her out as they do dead
workers. but carried her into the new nest
and subsequently into larger one with
which | supplied them, con gregatinx
round her for weeks just as il she had been
alive.
One could hardly help fancying that they
were mourning her loss or hoping anxious
1y for bcr recovery.
FIVE MILLION ANTS IN A CITY.
The communities are sometimes very
large. Numbering even mp TO five million
individuals. 1t is . lesson to rs that no
one has aver yet seen quarrel between
any two ants belonging to the same COM
munity. On the other hand. they are In
hostility not only with most other insects,
including ants of different species. but even
with those of the same species if belonging
to different communities.
i have over and over again introduced
ants from one of my nests into another
nest of the same species. and thew were in
variably attacked, seized bya leg or an
antenna, and dragged ont. lt in evident
that the ants of each community all recog-
nize one another.
i several times divided q nest into halves.
and found that even after a separation of q
year and nine months they recognized one
another and were perfectly friendly. whilst
they at once attached ants of q different
neat. although of the same species.
1t has been suggested that the ants of
each nest have some sign or password.
To test this lmsde some insensible. First
tried chloroform. but as they were prsc-
ticslly dead did not consider the test sat
1sfactory.
l decided, therefore, to intoxioate them.
This was .less easy than | bad expected.
None of my ants would voluntarily degrade
themselves oy getting drunk. / got over
the difficulty by putting them into whisky
for ~ few moments.
took twenty-five from one nest and
twenty five from another made them dead
and put them on q table close to where
other ants from one of the nests were
feeding. The table was surrounded with =
moat OF water to prevent them from stray
ing.
The ants which were feeding soon no.
ticed those which had made drunk. They
seemed quite astonished TO lind their COM
rades in such q disgraceful condition, and
rs much at q loss 30 know what to do with
their drunkards as we are.
After u while thew carried them all way;
the strangers they took TO the edge of the
moat and dropped INTO the water, while
they bore their friends home In To the nest,
where by degrees they slept off the effects
of the spirit.
Thus IL is evident that they know their
friends even when incapable of giving any
sign or password.
This little experiment shows that they
help comrades II distress. In one of my
nests unfortunate ant. in emerg ing from
the chrysalis skin, injured her legs so much
that she lay on her back quite helpless.
For three months she was carefully fed and
tended by the other ants.
In other cases an ant IN the same man
ner had injured her antenne. For some
days she did not leave tho nest. AT last
she ventured outside. ana after = while
met stranger ant of the same species. but
belonging to another nest, by whom she
was &C once attacked.
tried to separate them. but whether by
her enemy or by my clumsy kindness. she
on her side. Several other ants passed her
without taking any notice. rut soon one
camo up and carried her OFT tenderly to the
neat.
MORE THAN INSTINCT INTELLIGENCE.
It's well known that If one bee or ant
discovers q store of food, others soon find
their way toit. This does not prove much.
lt makes all the difference whether they
are brought or sent Ii they merely &C.
company. on her return. a companion who
has brought store of food. il does not im-
ply much.
10 test this made several experiments
One cold day my ants were almost all In
their nests Only one was ont hunting and
about six feet from home.
/ took dead blnebOttle fly. pinned IL on
piece of cork. and put it down inst in
front of her. She at once tried to carry of
the ny. but TO her surprise found 1t i'm
movable. She tugged and tugged first one
way and then another, for about twenty
minutes, and then went straight Oft TO the
Fest.
During that time not q single ant had
come out. In fact. she was the only ant of
that nest out At that time. She went
straight In. but In less than half min.
ute came ont again with no less than
twelve friends. who trooped off with her
and eventually tore mp the dead fly carry-
ing it on IN triumph. The first
ant took nothing homo with her
She must have made her friends under
stand that she had found some food and
wanted them 90 come and help her secure 10.
Certain species make slaves of Others
II q colony of the siave-making ants ia
CHANGING tha neat q fnatfar wh,ch "a 6,