136 HYMENOPTERA 



by Insects. There can indeed be little doubt that ants are really 

 not only the " highest " structurally or mechanically of all Insects, 

 l)ut also the most efficient. There is an American saying to 

 the effect that the ant is the ruler of Brazil. We must add a 

 word of qualification ; the competence of the ant is not like that 

 of man. It is devoted to the welfare of the species rather than to 

 that of the individual, which is, as it were, sacrificed or specialised 

 for the benefit of the connnunity. The distinctions between the 

 sexes in their powers or capacities are astonishing, and those 

 betw^een the various forms of one sex are also great. The differ- 

 ence between different species is extreme ; we have, in fact, the 

 most imperfect forms of social evolution coexisting, even locally, 

 with the most evolute. 



These facts render it extremely difficult for us to appreciate 

 the ant ; the limitations of efficiency displayed hj the individual 

 l)eiuo: in some cases extreme, while observation seems to elicit 

 contradictory facts. About two thousand species are already 

 known, and it is pretty certain that the number will reach at 

 least five thousand. Before passing to the considei-ation of a 

 selection from what has been ascertained as to the varieties of 

 form and of habits of ants we wdll deal briefiy with their habita- 

 tions and polymorphism, reserving some remarks as to their 

 associations witli other Insects to the conclusion of this chapter. 



Nests. — -Ants differ greatly from the other Social Hymenoptera 

 in the nature of their hal)itations. The social bees construct cells 

 of wax crowded together in large numbers, and the wasps do the 

 like with paper ; the eggs and young being placed, each one in a 

 separate cell, the combinations of which form a comb. Ants 

 have, however, a totally different system ; no comb is constructed, 

 and the larvae are not placed in cells, but are kept in masses and 

 are moved about from place to place as the necessities of tempera- 

 ture, air, humidity and other requirements prompt. The habita- 

 tions of ants are in all cases irregular chambers, of which there is 

 often a multiplicity connected by galleries, and they sometimes 

 form a large system extending over a considerable area. Thus 

 the habitations of ants are more like those of the Terndtes than 

 those of their own allies among the Hymenoptera. They are 

 chiefly remarkable for their great variety, and for the skilful 

 manner in wdiich they are adapted by their little artificers to 

 particular conditions. The most usual form in Europe, is a 



