CHAPTER XIX 



BRIEF CONSIDERATION OF THE REACTIONS OF MULTI- 

 CELLULAR ANIMALS WITH WELL-DEVELOPED EYES 

 IN LIGHT DIFFERING IN COLOR — WITH SPECIAL 

 REFERENCE TO COLOR VISION 



In the lower animals with image-forming eyes the reac- 

 tions to colors are very much more complicated than in 

 those without them. In these there is but little evidence 

 that any one color is much more efficient than another. 

 They may be positive to or may select a given color at 

 one time and a very different one at another. Investiga- 

 tions in this line are still few and methods inadequate. We 

 shall present only a few of the more conclusive. Foremost 

 among these may be mentioned those of Lubbock on ants, 

 bees and wasps. Of these we shall devote special atten- 

 tion to the work on ants and bees. 



I. Ants 



In his earlier experiments with ants Lubbock (1895, 

 p. 186) placed strips of glass differing in color, or glass jars 

 containing colored solutions, side by side over an artificial 

 nest.^ After leaving them for a few minutes he recorded 

 the number in each of the different colors, then rearranged 

 the color media and repeated the process. In twelve 

 different observations there was a total of 890 ants under 

 the red, 544 under the green, 495 under the yellow and 

 only 5 under the violet. The results of numerous other 

 observations under similar conditions were in all essentials 

 like them. 



^ These color media were spectroscopically tested by Professor Dewar. 



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