Nature. LUBBOCK'S ANTS, BEES AND WASPS,

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1672, 24 March 1883, Page 2 (Supplement)

Nature. LUBBOCK'S ANTS, BEES AND WASPS,

This volume is a reprint, with some omission of details, of Sir John Lubbock's papers which were read before the Linruean Society; of London. The volume jfl mainly devoted, to ants, with a few pages referring' to bees and wasps. The book is an important contribution to animal psychology, and is' almost entirely a fresh record of facts observed by the author, who only refers to the pbserya-, i tions of other naturalists for the purpose of introducing his own. Lubbock is a patient and most impartial observer, and is reticent as to ultimate questions, his method being purely inductive. Hoyvever, at ihe outset j3ir John feels disposed to place the abts' next to ' man in intelligence, a position which may be disputed, as purely reasoning processes are' \ \ perhaps at least as frequently observed vi ihe ;, mammals and birds, particularly the domesticated kinds, as in ants or bees!. ' " ' We will rapidly nste the Original, discoveries of our author, such as prbve'to be ad-

ditions to out- fctock of knowledge of insect mental traits. •l.Lubbock is the first to show ihat ia ants (m^rmipa rtMrinodt*^, ttoqueens flfcv&flntanstinot of ;bjfinging upgUrva tndthe powfflb pounding donimunitWß ; I'ftiid hot queens ||fly, 'but, as has beenj shown by fpenny, | ppe^Dewit^, and prsr«d |iyi Fowl, smales^rLubboek has f a^ier prov«|pißt the worker eggs only produjM males. gp^Thile it has formerly been suppled that^Jitts live but one year, Lubbock kept two queens over seven years and they " are probably more th'aneighTyeaffl old." They stem iti^petteat lealth, and in 1881 laid fertile eggs, a fict ,which suggests physiological cpnclu : a ions, of great interest. He also has workers • more thanaix years old." W>ile English ants do not, as in warmer <ountries, ( lay r up food for the winter, "they ( o more, for they keep during six months the , < ggs whioh will enable them ,to procure food ( uring the following summer,, a case of pru- < lence.unexampleil in the animal kingdom." As^egards the ijlave-kepping propensity of ,ntB and its effect upon the anfc character, we lave many fresh observations. During more han four years 1 observations of a nest of 'olyergus, Lubbock's specimens "certainly lever fed themselves, and when the coramulity changed its nest, which they did several imes, the mistresses were' carried from the me to the other by the slaves." With Huber le does not doubt that specimens of PolyerSUB, i£ kept by themselves in a box, would won die of starvation, even if, supplied with ;ood. " I have, however, kept isolated specimens for three months, by giving them a slave for an hour or two a day to clean , and feed them; under these circumstances they remained in perfect health, while, but for the 3laves, they would have perished in two or three days. Excepting the slave-making ants and some of the Myrmecophilous beetles kbove described, I know no case in nature of fen animal having lost the instinct of feeding." In Polyergus rufetccm, the so-called workers, though thus helpless and idle, are numerous energetic and, in some respects, even brilliant. In another slave-making ant Strongylognathus, the workers are much less numerous and so weak that it tis an unsolved problem how they continue to make slaves. They make slaves of Tctramorium caspitum, which they carry off as pupje. The extreme in the series of slave-making ants is Anergates, which differs from all other ants •• in having no workers at all." The male is wingless ; they and the females are accompanied and tended by Tetramorium cccspitum. The Anergates are absoluted dependent upon their slaves and cannot even feed themselves. Lubbock thinks male and female Angerates make their way into a nest of Tetramorium " and in some manner contrive to assassinate their queen." As regards the effects upon the character of the ants, we qnote as follows from our author : •'At any rate, these four genera offer us 1 overy gradation from lawless violence to con1 temptible parasitism. Formica savgninea, which may be assumed to have comparatively recently taken to slave-making, has not as yet been materially affected. " tolyergUß, on the contrary, already illustrates the lowering tendency of slavery. They have lost their knowledge of art, their natural affection for their young, and even their instinct of feeding! They are, however, bold and powerful marauders. "In Strongylognathus the enervating influence of slavery has gone further, and told even on their bodily strength. They are no longer able to capture their slaves in fair and open warfare. Still they retain a semblance of authority, and when roused will fight bravely, though in vain. " In Anergates, finally, we come to the last scene of this sad history. We may safely conclude that in distant times their ancestors lived, as so many ants do now, partly by hunting, partly on honey ; that by degrees they became bolcl marauders, and gradually took to keeping slaves ; that for a time they maintained their strength and agility, though losing by degrees their real independence, their arts and even many of their instincts : that gradually even their bodily force dwindled away under the enervating influence to which they subjected themselves, until they sank to their present degraded condition — weak in body and mind, few in numbers, and apparently nearly extinct, the miserable representatives of far superior ancestors, maintaining a precarious existence as contemptible parasites of their former slaves." As to the passions of these creatures, Lubbock states that ants of the same nest^ never quarrel. " I have never seen the slightest evidenco of ill-temper in any of my nests, all is harmony. Nor are instances of active assistance at all rare. Indeed, I have myself witnessed various cases showing care^ and tenderness on their part." Aa to their recognition of one another, it appears that it is not personal or individual, " their harmony is not due to the fact that each ant is individually acquainted with every other member of the community. At the same time the fact that they recognize their friends even when they have been brought out of the chrysalis by strangers, seems to indicate that the recognition is not effected by means of any sign or pass word." As to the power, of communication, the results of a number of experiments taught our author that while they do not possess "any considerable power of descriptive communication," on the other hand, there can , he thinks,be no doubt but that they do possess some power of the kind. He concludes that his experiments " certainly seem to indicate the possession, by ants, of something approaching to language. It is impossible to doubt that the friends were brought out by the first ant ; and as she returned empty handed to her nest, the others cannot have been induced to follow her merely by observing her proceedings. In face of such facts as these, it is impossible not to ask ourselves how far nre ants mere exquisite automaton? ; how far they are conscious beings ? When we see an ant hill, tenanted by thousands of industrious inhabitants, excavating chambers^ forming \ nnnels, making roads, guarding their home, gathering food, feeding the young, tending their domestic animals — each one fulfilling its duties industriously, and without confusion— it is difficult altogether to deny to them the gift of reason ; and the preceding observations tend to confirm the opinion that their mental powers differ from those of men not so much in kind as in degree." While our author concludes that ants track one another by scent, he is inclined- to, adopt the mosaic theory of insect vision, and from experiments with the spectrum, concludes that "1. ants have the power' of distinguishing colors ; 2t2 t that they are very sensitive to violet ; and it would also seem ,3. that their, sensations of color must be very different from, those produced upon us." The sense of hearing appears to be lodged in the antennas,, certain stethoscope-like organs occurring there, though ants are deaf to ordinary, sounds, still, he thinks that ants perceive sounds, which we cannot' hear. On the other, hand the sense of smell is highly developed, and how important this is in enabling them to find their way is shown in chapter ik, where are some curious statements both as to their apparent want of ingenuity, especially in constructing bridges, and ' earthworks. Ants ' while guided' by s^erit are also guided by sight, and are greatly.influenced by the direction pf light. ' ' ' , 1 ' In the chapter on bees he* records experiments showing that honey beep " do not f bring their friends to share any, treasure they ', have discovered, so invariably as - #qm, the statements 'of previous ,obseryers," and- he Jaas be,en a , good deal surprisedat £he , difficulty which ,bees, 'experience,' ih ( /finding ( their, way. , His observations also teach him, that, " though bees habitually know and ,re(turn'to their own hive, still.if.placedjonthe a,h'ghting-bqard. of another, ihe^ often t enter it , without molestation." Se \vpunabh to dis-, cover ( any evidence f>( affection among' bees, they appearing* " thopropghly, ;c»l|ous^nfrut- n terly indifferent to'one^nbtber.Vj to,, the usual statements; he finds foeir devotion to the queen to be' >A of the, most fjmited ,<sharao- ( ter,", *nd ,<jhe ,workers.' ta|ke"n.p, fip'tule^pf their ( dead- companions. jßees 1 possess a", keen powerof sipeuVbut ljke ,tysm 'ss[ °l M*M H very dull ; thej possess, fcpweyejj, a 6010r t) s,ense, preferring one' color 1 to another, blue being

distinctly|tfilir f avprite. A brief final chapter is devoted to wasps, and Lubbock'r^elperiments, " iggpsßpsitigg Huber tu&jmxwb' ! 'mv6 ; ioßhovf. thitwaeps and bees do mS imp i'OfcsescOnvey'tobne another inforffiation as to £l do not ddritflney olten do sc^pt > ''^S7 a lfi tilso not affected by sounds, anavijieytpre caP pable of distinguishing, color, "though they do net seem so much guided by it as bees are." The book has appendices giving details of experiments regarding the"recognition by ants* of friends after long separation, and on the power j oiE , communication of ants ajad, bees, with, notes on the industry oi wasps', jf or Lubbock's investigations more .than confirm the general beliejE as jio the great' industry of all, these jnBects»' ' ' „\ ( '', ' < ! The work is a magazipe of facts', .materials for farther, wo^k' o,n animal psychology.' "lt i s'houjd stimulate our youth of both sexes who are in any way interested in the study of nature, to observe patiently and thoroughly habits of our insects. Any one of ordinary capacity can make similar preservations, eVen those who are busy in other directions, for all of Sir John Lubbock's works,' have been, lprepared in moments snatched in the intervals, of the life of a great banker and busy member of Parliament. — The American Naturalist.