ANTS COMMUNICATION. 53 



to put this matter beyond question, Sir John Lubbock 

 tried the experiment of pinning down a dead fly, so that 

 the ant which found it was unable, with all her tugging, 

 to move it towards the nest. At length she went back 

 to the nest for assistance, and returned accompanied by 

 seven friends. So great was her excitement, however, 

 that she outran these friends, ' who seemed to have 

 come out reluctantly, as if they had been asleep, and were 

 only half awake ; ' and they failed to find the fly, slowly 

 meandering about for twenty minutes. After again tug- 

 ging for a time at the fly, the first ant returned a second 

 time to the nest for assistance, and in less than a minute 

 came out with eight friends. They were even less energetic 

 than the first party, and having lost sight of their guide in 

 the same manner as happened before, they all returned to 

 the nest. Meanwhile several of the first party, which had 

 all the while been meandering about, found the fly, and 

 proceeded to dismember it, carrying the trophy to the 

 nest, and calling out more friends in the ordinary way. 

 This experiment was repeated several times and on differ- 

 ent species, always with the same result. Now, as Sir 

 John remarks, * the two cases (i.e. those in which the ant, 

 brought out friends to her assistance even when she had 

 no booty to show) surely indicate a distinct power of com- 

 munication. ... 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 her by merely observing her proceedings. 

 I conclude, therefore, that they possess the power of re- 

 questing their friends to come and help them.' 



In order to ascertain whether the signs which com- 

 municating ants make to one another are made by means 

 of sound, Sir John Lubbock placed near a nest of Lasius 

 flavus six small upright pillars of wood about 1^ inch high, 

 and on one of these he put a drop of honey. ' I then put 

 three ants to the honey, and when each had sufficiently 

 fed, I imprisoned her, and put another ; thus always keep- 

 ing three ants at the honey, but not allowing them to go 

 home. If, then, they could summon their friends by 

 sound, there ought soon to be many ants at the honey.' 



