Littell's Living Age/Volume 146/Issue 1884/Sir John Lubbock on the Habits of Ants

In a further contribution of his observations towards elucidating the economy and habits of these insects, laid before the last meeting of the Linnean Society (June 17), Sir John commenced by relating his fresh experiments on their powers of communication. Among others a dead blue-bottle fly was pinned down, and after vain efforts at removal the selected ant hied home, and emerged with friends who slowly, and evidently incredulously, followed their guide. The latter starting off at a great pace distanced them, and they returned, again, however, to be informed, come out, and at length be coaxed to the prey. In the several experiments with different species of ants and under varied circumstances, these seem to indicate the possession by ants of something approaching language. It is impossible to doubt that the friends were brought out by the first ant, and as she returned empty-handed to the nest the others cannot have been induced to follow merely by observing her proceedings. Hence the conclusion that they possess the power of requesting their friends to come and help them. For other experiments testing the recognition of relations, although the old ants had absolutely never seen the young ones until the moment, some days after arriving at maturity, they were introduced into the nest, yet in all cases they were undoubtedly recognized as belonging to the community. It would seem, therefore, to be established that the recognition of ants is not personal and individual, and that their harmony is not due to the fact that each ant is acquainted with every other member of the community. It would further appear from the fact that they recognize their friends even when intoxicated, and that they know the young born in their own nest, even when they have been brought out of the chrysalis by strangers, indicating, therefore, that the recognition is not effected by means of any sign or password. With regard to workers breeding, the additional evidence tends to confirm previously advanced views, that when workers lay eggs males are always the issue of these. Without entering into details of instances it may broadly be affirmed that in the queenless nests males have been produced, and in not a single case has a worker laid eggs which have produced a female, either a queen or a worker. On the contrary, in nests possessing a queen, workers have been abundantly produced. The inference to these curious physiological facts leads to the presumption that, as in the case of bees, so also in ants, some special food is required to develop the female embryo into a queen. In Sir John’s nests, while from accidents and other causes many ants are lost during the summer months, in winter, nevertheless, there are few deaths, As to the age attained, specimens of Formica fusca and F. sanguinea, still lively, are now four and others five years old at least. The behavior to strange queens often results in their being ruthlessly killed; yet as communities are known to have existed for years, queens must occasionally have been adopted. With the view of trying how far dislike and passion might be assuaged by a formal temporary acquaintance a queen of F. fusca was introduced into a queenless nest, but protected by a wire cage, and after some days the latter removed, but the queen was at once attacked. Mr. McCook, nevertheless, relates an instance of a fertile queen of Cremastogaster lineolata having been adopted by a colony of the same species.

Such difference in conduct, Sir John suggests, may be due to his own ants having been living in a republic; for it is affirmed that bees long without a queen are strongly averse to adopt or accept another. Furthermore, if a few ants from a strange nest are put along with a queen they do not attack her, and if other ants are by degrees added the throne is ultimately secured. In pursuance of experiments to test the sense of direction, some ants were trained to go for their food over a wooden bridge made up of segments. Having got accustomed to the way, afterwards when an ant was in the act of crossing, a segment was suddenly reversed in direction, evidently to the ant's discomfiture; she then either turned round, or, after traversing the bridge, would return. When, however, similar pieces of wood were placed between nest and food, and the ant at the middle piece, those at the ends being transposed, the ant was not disconcerted, in other instances a circular paper disk was placed on a paper bridge, and when the ant was on the disk this was revolved, but the ant turned round with the paper. A hat-box with holes of entrance and exit pierced at opposite sides was planted across the line to the food; when the ant had entered and the box turned round, the ant likewise wheeled about, evidently retaining her sense of direction. Again, with the insect en route, when the disk or box with the ant within was merely shifted to the opposite side of the food without being turned round, the ant did not turn round, but continued in what ought to have been the direction to the food, and evidently was surprised at the result on arrival at the spot where the food had previously been. To ascertain whether ants make sounds audible to one another, the use of the telephone was resorted to, but the results were negative. These experiments may not be conclusive, for the plate of the telephone may be too stiff to be set in vibration by any sounds which the ants produced. As opposed to the opinion expressed by M. Dewitz, Sir J. Lubbock regards the ancestral ant as having been aculeate, and that the rudimentary condition of the sting in Formica is due to atrophy, perhaps attributable to disuse. A ground plan of the nest of Lasius niger is now given by Sir John, which exhibits an intricate, narrow, and winding entrance passage;, the main nest cavity is further supported by pillars, and here and there by islands; protected recesses obtain, evidently strategical retreats in times of danger. Studying the relations and treatment of the aphides, or plant-lice of the ants, Sir John clearly demonstrates that not only are the aphides kept and protected in the ants' nests, but the eggs of Aphis laid outside on the leaf-stalks of its food-plant in October, when exposed to risks of weather, are carefully brought by ants into their nests, and afterwards tended by them during the long winter months until March, when the young ones are again brought out and placed on the young vegetable shoots. This proves prudential motives, for though our native ants may not lay up such great supplies of winter stores of food as do some of those found abroad, they thus nevertheless take the means to enable them to procure food during the following summer. The fact of European ants not generally laying up abundant stores may be due to the nature of their food. Insects and small animals form portions of their food, and these cannot always be kept fresh. They may also not have learned the art of building vessels for their honey, probably because their young are not kept in cells like those of the honey-bee, and their pupæ do not construct cocoons like those of the humble-bee. Relatively to their size our English ants nevertheless store proportionally; for if the little brown garden ants be watched milking their aphides, a marked abdominal distension is observable. The paper concludes by the history and technical description of a new species of Australian honey-ant. This corroborates Westmael’s strange account of the Mexican species, certain individual ants being told off as receptacles for food; in short they become literally animated honey-pots.