THE SENSES OF INSECTS McINDOO. 483 



Bethe claims that all the activities of insects, being guided by in- 

 stinct, can be explained by reflex actions, and therefore it is not 

 necessary for insects to think and to remember past experiences. 



Forel claims that insects have passions which are more or less 

 bound up with their instincts. Their passions vary enormously ac- 

 cording to the species. Certain species are extremely irritable and 

 choleric, as for example, wasps, certain ants, and a few beetles. On 

 the other hand, other ants are gentle, peaceful, and timid. The rage 

 of a certain ant can make it like a mad thing and leads it to kill its 

 own slaves. Forel has noted the following passions or traits of char- 

 acter among ants: Rage, hatred, devotion, jealousy, perseverance, 

 gluttony, discouragement, despair, fear, and temerity. When we 

 observe the more stupid species, we no longer recognize passions, 

 apart from hunger, thirst, and sexual appetite. The memory of in- 

 sects varies much according to the species, being best developed in 

 the social Hymenoptera and least in the small brained forms. Forel 

 says : 



It must be admitted, therefore, that insects are capable of perceiving, of 

 learning, of recollecting, of associating their recollections and of utilizing them 

 to accomplish their ends. They have various emotions and their will is not 

 purely instinctive, but offers individual plastic modifications, adapted to cir- 

 cumstances. 



Bouvier in 1918 (Le Vie Psychique des Insectes) seems to support 

 Forel 's view by saying that insects can not be regarded as simple 

 reflex machines, because they can adapt themselves to circumstances, 

 acquire new habits, learn to remember, and manifest discernment. 



In conclusion, let us cease looking with scorn upon insects. In- 

 stead we should marvel at the things they have accomplished. Com- 

 paring their organization with ours, they have perhaps accomplished 

 comparatively more than we have. Some of the social insects prob- 

 ably adopted the laws of physiological division of labor before did 

 primitive man, and they had not only equal suffrage, but also woman 

 suffrage long before the dawn of our civilization. In fact, their 

 evolution of female suffrage has been carried to such an extreme that 

 the males are now not only defenseless and helpless in many ways but 

 also have become drones in the fullest sense of the word ; the males 

 have degenerated to such a degree that their only purpose in life is to 

 propagate the species, while the true females (queens) are nothing 

 more than egg-laying machines. Furthermore some insects, for ex- 

 ample honeybees and plant lice, have evolved methods for controlling 

 sex; this subject has probably puzzled man as much as life itself, yet 

 man can neither control sex nor knows how to control it. 



