THE HOMING OF THE HYMENOPTERA 



By C. H. TURNER 



INTRODUCTION 



Hymenoptera is the name of a group of insects which 

 includes ants, wasps, bees and their near kin. With the 

 exception of those forms which in their babyhood are 

 parasites, all construct homes to be occupied by their 

 young. These homes may be subterranean, terrestrial 

 or aerial; solitary or communal; constructed of clay, 

 wood or paper; but, in all cases, in order to supply the 

 young with food, the adults make frequent visits to these 

 nurseries. By some species all of the food is stored in 

 the nest before the eggs hatch; by others a portion is 

 deposited before birth and the remainder is added as 

 the young need it; yet others, which store no food be- 

 fore the larvae appear, are kept busy supplying the daily 

 bread of their offspring. Their numerous periodic visits 

 to the home make the adults excellent subjects for inves- 

 tigations of the methods by which insects find their way 

 home. At first blush it may seem that the subject would 

 have been exhausted long before now ; but, by coining new 

 psychological concepts and by insisting upon more exact- 

 ing methods of experimentation, this age has stimulated 

 a number of scholars to reinvestigate the subject. 



The creeping ant leaves its burrow, meanders to its 

 distant foraging ground and returns, without error, to 

 its nest. Likewise the wasp and the bee repeatedly fly 

 away to their hunting grounds and return. From time 

 to time, four different factors have been proposed to ac- 

 count for this behavior; a homing instinct, tropisms, 

 muscular memory and recognition of landmarks. 



