CHAPTER 1. 



ANTS AS DOMINANT INSECTS. 



" In turba insectorum vastissima prae ceteris Familiis omnium Ordinum 

 eminent Formica' numero maximo individuorum, viribus tenacissimis, strenuitate 

 et industria infatigabili atque vitae genere sociali et cultura (ut ita dicam) 

 instinctus naturalis longe pnecellente ; quibus multisque adhuc aliis virtutibus 

 bsec animalcula, ad speciem externam, staturam coloresque exilia et vilia, atten- 

 tionem Scrutatorum summorum temporum labentium sane meruerunt sibique 

 allexerunt." Nylander, " Adnotationes in Monographiam Formicarum Borealium 

 Europse," 1846. 



" II n'est pas contestable que le succes soit le criterium le plus general de 

 la superiorite, les deux termes etant, jusqu'a un certain point, synonymes 1'un 

 de 1'autre. Par succes il faut entendre, quand il s'agit de 1'etre vivant, une 

 aptitude a se developper dans les milieux les plus divers, a travers la plus grande 

 variete possible d'obstacles, de maniere a couvrir la plus vaste etendue possible 

 de terre. Une espece qui revendique pour domaine la terre entiere est veritable- 

 ment une espece dominatrice et par consequent superieure. Telle est 1'espece 

 humaine, qui representera le point culminant de 1'evolution des Vertebres. Mais 

 tels sont aussi, dans la serie des Articules, les Insectes et en particulier certains 

 Hymenopteres. On a dit que les Fourmis etaient maitresses du sous-sol de la 

 terre, comme 1'homme est maitre du sol." H. Bergson, " L'fivolution Creatrice," 

 1908. 



It is a matter of common observation that the higher animals 

 those, namely, that in structure and behavior are most like ourselves 

 are also the ones which arouse our keenest interest, for besides the 

 interest prompted by purely aesthetic or gastronomic motives, or by 

 that atavic love of the chase, so universal among healthy men, there is 

 a more intellectual interest which zoologists and laymen alike expe- 

 rience when they contemplate in the nearest of their animal kindred 

 the vague but unmistakable prototypes of the human body and its 

 activities. The only lower animals that from immemorial time have 

 retained a like interest for man, are certain insects the social bees 

 and wasps, the termites and the ants. And among these what appeals 

 so forcibly to the imagination is not the structure or activities of the 

 individuals as such, but the extraordinary instincts which compel them 

 to live permanently in intimate consociations. In this case also our 

 interest is aroused by an undeniable resemblance to our own condition. 

 Reflection shows that this resemblance cannot be superficial, but must 

 depend on a high degree of adaptability and plasticity common to man 

 and the social insects, for in order to live in permanent commonwealths, 

 an organism must be not only remarkably adaptive to changes in its 



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