184 Sir John Lubbock [May 9, 



was of opinion that ants' nests originate in tlie second mode indicated 

 above, and it is indeed far from improbable that this may occur. No 

 clear case has, however, yet been observed. 



Under these circumstances, I made various experiments, in order, 

 if possible, to solve the question. For instance, I took an old fertile 

 queen from a nest of Lasius flavus, and put her to another nest of the 

 same species. The workers became very excited, and killed her. I 

 repeated the experiment, with the same result, more than once. 



I concluded then that, at any rate in the case of Lasius flavus^ the 

 workers would not adopt an old queen from another nest. 



The following instance, however, shows that whether or not ants' 

 nests sometimes originate in the two former modes or not, at any rate 

 in some cases isolated queen ants are capable of giving origin to a 

 new community. On the 14th August, 1876, I isolated two pairs of 

 Myrmica ruginodis, which I found flying in my garden. I placed 

 them with damp earth, food and water, and they continued perfectly 

 healthy through the winter. The first eggs were laid between the 

 12th and 23rd of April. 



They began to hatch the first week in June ; the first turned to a 

 chrysalis on the 27th, and emerged as a perfect insect on the 22nd 

 July. Others followed shortly afterwards, and this experiment proves 

 therefore that the queens of this species, at any rate, have the instinct 

 of bringing up larvae, and consequently the power of founding new 

 communities. 



Amongst other experiments to test the affection of ants for one 

 another, I tried the following. I took six ants from a nest of Formica 

 fusca, imprisoned them in a small bottle, one end of which was left open, 

 but covered by a layer of muslin. I then put the bottle close to the 

 door of the nest. The muslin was of open texture, the meshes, however, 

 being sufficiently fine to prevent the ants from escaping. They could 

 not only see one another, but communicate freely with their antennae. 

 We now watched to see whether the prisoners would be tended or fed 

 by their friends. We could not, however, observe that the least 

 notice was taken of them. The experiment, nevertheless, was less 

 conclusive than could be wished, because they might have been fed at 

 night, or at some time when we were not looking. It struck me, 

 therefore, that it would be interesting to treat some strangers also in 

 the same manner. 



Now some critics have objected to my experiments (always, I must 

 admit, in the fairest and most friendly spirit) that my ants may have 

 been stupid ants, and that the experiments being in many cases 

 (though by no means in all) made on captive nests, were on that 

 account also scarcely fair to the ants. Indeed, I have myself anti- 

 cipated and pointed out this objection. I am disposed to believe that 

 in warmer countries the ants are more highly developed, as everyone 

 knows is the case with reference to numbers, than in our comparatively 

 cold regions. Again, much allowance must certainly be made for the 

 fact of the ants being in captivity. However, I have always en- 



