442 



was already eaten and that the larva was still feeding. This may be 

 one reason why the workers keep the eggs and the larvae separate. 



The sense of taste seems to be well developed in ants. They 

 quickly discriminate between honey and sugar water and much prefer 

 the latter to the former. On one occasion, instead of using sugar 

 water, as usual, I placed a drop of honey in each nest. Generally the 

 drop of food was discovered almost immediately and within a few 

 minutes surrounded by the eager workers. On this occasion I ex- 

 amined the nests a few minutes after the introduction of the food, 

 and in only seven out of the 26 colonies were there any ants at the 

 honey, and only a few in those cases. On another occasion I intro- 

 duced a drop of honey and sugar water at the same time in the light 

 chamber of the Fielde nest containing a large colony. The honey 

 was placed nearer the opening into the dark chamber where the ants 

 stayed, while the sugar water was placed farther beyond it and near 

 the refuse heap. The water was quickly surrounded, while only a 

 few ants stopped at the honey, although they had to go around the 

 honey to get to the sugar water. After a few minutes some of the 

 ants began, as is their custom, to carry the dead ants, empty pupa- 

 cases, etc., from the refuse heap and place in the liquid food, but in 

 this case it was very striking to see the way in which the ants carried 

 bits of debris around the sugar water in order to deposit them in the 

 honey, while the feeding ants were passing around the honey to get 

 to the sugar water. After a few minutes there were 13 dead ants 

 placed in the honey and only i in the sugar water. This shows clearly 

 that the purpose of such behavior on the part of the ants is to cover 

 up objectionable substances and not to enable them the better to get 

 at the food. 



The queens do not often eat from the food chamber as the workers 

 do, but I have seen them drinking sugar water a number of times. 

 They will also cover the sugar water with bits of debris, and in some 

 cases the queens stuck to the cover pane small pieces which they had 

 torn from some black blotting-paper I had in the nest, as though to 

 help shut out the light. They will also bury their larvse when the 

 latter are ready to spin their cocoons and will clean the cocoons after 

 they are finished. 



The ants often use bits of sponge and other debris to block up the 

 passageway between the two chambers of a Fielde nest as though to 

 shut out the light from the other chamber. In the same way I have 

 had colonies of Aphccnogaster fulva block up a passageway to shut 

 out queens of A. tcnnesseensis which I was using for temporary para- 

 sitism experiments. Is this intelligence? 



