PREFACE 



stimulate thought and discussion, or at least interest, 

 but in no wise divert from his main purpose: to increase 

 knowledge of the natural history of creaturelings that 

 have contributed so much to his own enjoyment of life. 

 It has been more than thirty-two years almost a 

 full generation of men since the author published in 

 the Transactions of the American Entomological Society 

 (Philadelphia) his first observations of American ants. 

 Since then he has given to the world in books, in publica- 

 tions of scientific societies, and in magazine articles, his 

 studies of various species, chiefly devoting himself to 

 their habits rather than to their systematic classification. 

 In this volume, Ant Communities, taken together with 

 the first part of Nature's Craftsmen, he presents a sub- 

 stantial summary of these prolonged observations. 

 And he has brought them down to date by associating 

 therewith the latest observations of some of the leading 

 naturalists of the scientific world. 



" Brookcamp," Devon, Pennsylvania. 



