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AXT COMMUNITIES 



CHAPTER I 



FRATERNAL CONFEDERACIES AND COMMUNAL RIGHT- 

 EOUSNESS AMONG SOCIAL ANTS 



ORGANIZED society, whether among insects or 

 men, implies some form of government; and that 

 implies citizenship. And fidelity to the just and natural 

 service of citizens is communal righteousness. May we 

 apply such a term to insects? And if so, what is the 

 character of such a quality; or, if one may venture so to 

 put it, what is the quality of such a character? And 

 is it in any measure comparable with communal right- 

 eousness as the phrase goes among men? The inquiry 

 will here be limited to ants; but the study requires the 

 statement of some preliminary facts, so that readers 

 may have a true conception of the field which our 

 thoughts are to explore. 



Some insects are "solitary"; they live alone. Others 

 are "social"; thev live in communities. There is such 



a 



a striking contrast between the manners of the two 

 groups that one wonders how the distinction arose. 

 True, at the beginning of life most insects are massed, 

 since their mothers lay their eggs in compact clusters. 

 But if one start with the theory that this may have left 







