igS 



HARDWICKK S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



THE WOOD ANT [FORMICA RUFA). 



By Jos. Bowman. 



"\T ^HAT a misfortune it is that Providence or 

 V V Nature has not provided a universal lan- 

 guage, a means of communication between man and 

 beast, between man and insect ! Then we should 

 have no controversies. The perplexing mysteries of 

 nature would be open before us, and, what is of 

 immediate importance to me, I could step peacefully 

 up to my nest of Formica rii/a, and inquire of my 

 favourites what they thought of Mr. Whatmore's 

 attempt to rob them of their organs of hearing. 



Perhaps there are those, however, who would 

 object in a decided manner to being robbed of the 

 glorious pleasure experienced in the unravelling of 



it (the hammer) pass close to the glass and the ants 

 without touching either, and without producing any 

 noise. This feint I repeat again and again, and the 

 ants take not the slightest notice. Next, I take the 

 tumbler, and touching it lightly with the hammer, 

 which action produces a low ringing noise, I find 

 instantly that the ants are on the qui vive, raising 

 themselves on their hind legs, and exhibiting every 

 sign of being startled by the sound. This experi- 

 ment I repeated, with a like result, again and again. 



In this instance, I presume, the vibration in the 

 air would be the same when no sound was produced, 

 as when it was produced. 



I next experimented with a co:nmon bluebottle 

 fly, which I placed under cover of the glass a short 

 distance away from any ants that were prowling 

 round. Mr. Bluebottle seemed to take matters cjuite 



Fig. 122. — Home of Foi-mica riija. 



those mysteries ; and if so, I shall not quarrel with 

 them. 



Perhaps I, myself, would live to repent the time 

 when my wishes were realised. 



That the theory propounded in the INIay issue of 

 Science-Gossip raised a conflict of doubts in my 

 mind, I at once admit ; but I must add that these 

 were speedily dispelled in the light of a few simple 

 experiments. 



It is my usual practice to provide my ants witli a 

 liberal supply of honey immediately on visiting tlicm 

 at night, and it was while they were absorbed in their 

 luscious feast that I jirovcd to myself, beyond doubt, 

 that they possessed organs of hearing of a very acute 

 nature. 



The honey is placed under cover of the glass. 

 The ants are busily engaged in sipping it from tlie 

 l^aper on whicli it is smeared, and I approach tlie 

 cover witli a tumbler glass in one hand, a hammer 

 in the other. I make a feint as if about to deal the 

 cover a severe blow with tiie hammer, and make 



unconcernedly, and the ants on their part seemed 

 entirely unconscious of the intruder's existence. One 

 of them, however, by accident happening to get near 

 the fly, at once seized it by the leg, and of course the 

 fly immediately began to buzz its wings in a vain 

 endeavour to escape. A group of ants, quietly 

 feeding upon the honey at the further side of the 

 glass, undoubtedly hearing the buzz-buzz of the fly's 

 wings, at once rushed to the scene of conflict, and 

 the victim's fate was sealed. Now, I would ask, if it 

 was merely the ants' sight that led them to the fly, 

 how was it that they had not moved before, whilst the 

 fly was creeping about, not more than six inches away 

 from them? Their movement was not erratic, but 

 simultaneous and combined. 



I am perfectly aware that this theory is a direct 

 antithesis to the theory of Sir John Lubbock, as 

 expounded in his learned and interesting book on 

 Ants, Bees, and Wasps ; but in the light of my own 

 experience, and of the experiments which I have here 

 detailed, I must still cling to my opinion. 



