LUBBOCK ON INSECT CONSERVATISM. 399 



They follow, but so slowly that they never keep up with their eager 

 guide, soon drop behind, and generally give up the expedition, as one 

 beyond their courage or strength, or at least too much for their half- 

 faith. Let us hear Sir John's curious delineation of the sort of au- 

 thority which one ant's information appears to carry to his fellow-ants : 

 " I selected a specimen of Atta testaceo-pilosa, belonging to a nest 

 which I had brought back with me from Algeria. She was out hunt- 

 ing about six feet from home, and I placed before her a large dead 

 blue-bottle fly, which she at once began to drag to the nest. I then 

 pinned the fly to a piece of cork, in a small box, so that no ant could 

 see the fly until she had climbed up the side of the box. The ant 

 struggled, of course in vain, to move the fly. She pulled first in one 

 direction and then in another, but, finding her efforts fruitless, she at 

 length started off back to the nest empty-handed. At this time there 

 were no ants coming out of the nest. Probably there were some few 

 others out hunting, but for at least a quarter of an hour no ant had 

 left the nest. My ant entered the nest, but did not remain there ; in 

 less than a minute she emerged, accompanied by seven friends. I 

 never saw so many come out of that nest together before. In her ex- 

 citement the first ant soon distanced her companions, who took the 

 matter with much sang-froid, and had all the appearance of having 

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

 awake. The first ant ran on ahead, going straight to the fly. The 

 others followed slowly and with many meanderings ; so slowly, in- 

 deed, that for twenty minutes the first ant was alone at the fly, trying 

 in every way to move it. Finding this still impossible, she again re- 

 turned to the nest, not chancing to meet any of her friends by the 

 way. Again she emerged in less than a minute with eight friends, 

 and hurried on to the fly. They were even less energetic than the first 

 party ; and, when they found they had lost sight of their guide, they 

 one and all returned to the nest. In the mean time, several of the first 

 detachment had found the fly, and one of them succeeded in detach- 

 ing a leg, with which she returned in triumph to the nest, coming out 

 again directly with four or five companions. These latter, with one 

 exception, soon gave up the chase and returned to the nest. I do not 

 think so much of this last case, because, as the ant carried in a sub- 

 stantial piece of booty in the shape of the fly's leg, it is not surprising 

 that her friends should some of them accompany her on her return ; 

 but surely the other two cases indicate a distinct power of communica- 

 tion. Lest, however, it should be supposed that the result was acci- 

 dental, I determined to try it again. Accordingly, on the following 

 day I put another large dead fly before an ant belonging to the same 

 nest, pinning it to a piece of cork as before. After trying in vain for 

 ten minutes to move the fly, my ant started off home. At that time I 

 could only see two other ants of that species outside the nest. Yet in 

 a few seconds, considerably less than a minute, she emerged with no 



