Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-30

place usually in the afternoon or toward
evening on warm or sultry days. and IL is
remarkable how very general over wide
extent OF country the same species viii
begin to I'LL the air some particular day.
species of the genera Lazius, Formics,
Ietramorium ard Cremastogaster, par
ticularly, often form dense swarms or
clouds, ascending high UP in the air. These
sWarms OF ants have sometimes been
known TO be so dense and persistent that ft.
Is impossible, over large areas. 70 put the
loot down without crushing dozens OF
them, and they can be swept together IN
vast piles. A case is on record of a large
species covering the surface of the water
al sea to depth of six inches and for q
distance OF six miles. This congregaring
In such vast swarms IL due TO the uniform
and simultaneous Matching and develop
ment in all the colonies over a large exc
tent of country.
THE migrations of the sexes are really
love excursions. whereas the migra tons OF
the workers, which take place in vast bod
les at times. are a result OF undue multi
pllcation, and are intended TO improve the
condition of the surplus progeny ana found
new colonies"
In summarizing the chief characteristics
OF the social insects Prof Riley said: These
insects are attacked by various natural
enemies in their own class, and parricu-
larry I'm the case OF the bees and wasps. by
some OF the most abnormal parasites
namely. the styiopidae. In which the young
larva Is extremely active, but the adult
female stationary and so degraded that it
has lost all members and mouth parts, ana
In fact. all semblance OF the insect while
the male is an active winged creature Of
very ephemeral existence. Chapters might
be written upon the myrmecophilous and
termitophilous insects of various orders,
some OF which are mere messmates. others
advantageous associates, while others are
unwelcome. but more or less successful
intruders on the hospitality of their hosts
The senses I'm Insects.
Having thus far dealt with the characters
and economies of the social insects, Prof.
Riley next entered on q learned disquisition
Of their psychological manifestation or
the five ordinary senses recognized in our
selves and most higher animals" he said
insects have beyond all doubt the sense on
sight. and there can be as little question
that they possess the senses OF touch, taste.
smell and hearing. Yet save perhaps thar
OF touch none OF these senses possessed
by insects can be strictly compared with
our own, while there is just as little doubt
that insects possess Other senses which we
DO not, and that they have sense organs
with which We have none to compare.
ANY one who has closely studied the ways
of insects. especially as exemplified IN the
social species We have considered. will not
doubt that they possess intelligence They
communicate with each other by a IAN
guage. which, though unspoken, is no less
eloquent of all their wishes and desires
They work for the common good: they train
O. u
In the defense of the communal interest:
they protect and defend their sovereign.
they make war and even organize military
expeditions; they make slaves and are held
In bondage: they encourage and p-otecr
other insects which yield them Cherished
nourishment; they even go SO far as to carO
for the eggs Of SUCH and thus deliberately
breed their nectar-gfving kline: they cult.
vate crops; they providentiy store food In
anticipation OF an fnauspicious season; thev
give expression to satisfaction and pleasure
and exhibit ill-temper o. rage; they even en-
hlbit certain moral sense. and win helD
the distressed and needy of their own kind:
they are most assiduous in the care ana
education of their young; they profit by ex-
perience; they manifest a pure and simple
enjoyment OF life by their gambols ana
playfulness-they exhibit, in short most Of
the sense manifestations displayed by high
er animals. IL may be ingeniously argued
acting as mere automatons but the same
may be. and has been, argued even OF man.
Not as Created.
Two be,iefs that have very generally
prevailed among Men I'D to within recent
years have been so effectualiy discarded
that they are even renowned by the more
advanced theologians. refer to the BELIEF
that organisms were specially created a.
they now exist and that man was apart
from. and not part of. the rest OF the
animal world. II is my Judgment that =
false. and will have TO be abandoned before
We can properly appreciate psychology OF
animals refer to the notion that the low
er animals do not reason and are incapable
OF conscious reflection and thought.
The insects to which have referred to-
night are admitted 10 be among the more in
teiiigent OF their class. but they are only
Illustrations of an intelligence which IN
found throughout the other orders, and
which impresses US in proportion as we
study IL and come TO realize and recognize
IT, There are certain acts which all creatures
necessarily perform as an outgrowth Of
their organization. These are essentially
the instructive acts. and are, for the most
part inevitable and often unconscious A
great many of the acts Of rational man are.
in this view, instructive, and from birth to
maturity many OF them are prompted solely
by the consecutive development of different
parts of the organization. and are much less
the result of training and teaching than 10
generally believed. Most of the acts Of In
sects are instructive and explicable upon
this same view, but no one can study them
carefully and without bias and not feed that
these instructive and inevitable actions are
associated with many others, which result
from the possession of intelligence. of con-
scious reasoning and reflective powers. In
this view OF the case is the whole world
truly kin. and is man brought more fully
OF Ii.
is ii not significant. also. that just a.
among the mammalia, the higher intellectual
development and social organization. as In
man, is found correlated with the longest
period of dependent infancy; that this help
less infancy has been, I'm fact, a prime in-
nuence in The origin. through family, clan,
tribe and state, of organized civilizationf
SO In the insect world We ind the same cor
relation between the highest intelligence
and dependent infancy and are justified in
concluding that the latter is in the social
hymenoptera, as in man. in the same way
the cause OF The high organization and d.
vision OF labor so characteristic of them
R1OT1NG IN NEW PLACE.