INTERRELATIONS OF INSECTS 333 
As Forel says [translation]: ‘“ The chief feature of ant 
architecture, in contradistinction to that of the bees and the 
wasps, 1s its irregularity and want of uniformity—that is to 
say, its adaptability, or the capacity of making all the sur- 
roundings and incidents subserve the purpose of attaining the 
greatest possible economy of space and time and the greatest 
possible comfort. ‘or instance, the same species will live in 
the Alps under stones which absorb the rays of the sun; in a 
forest it will live in warm, decayed trunks of trees; in a rich 
meadow it will live in high, conical mounds of earth.’ Some 
species construct peculiar pasteboard nests, as Lasius fuligino- 
sus of Europe and tropical species of Cremastogaster; and 
others spin silk to fasten leaves together, as Polyrhachis of 
India and C&cophylla of tropical Asia and tropical Africa, the 
silk being probably a salivary secretion, according to [orel. 
Habits in General.—The habits of ants are an inexhaustible 
and ever-fascinating subject of study to the naturalist, and 
well repay the most critical observation. While each species 
has its characteristic habits, ants in general have many customs 
in common. 
Thus ants of one colony exhibit, as a rule, a pronounced 
hostility toward ants of any other colony, even one of the same 
species, but recognize and spare members of their own colony, 
even after many months of separation and though the colony 
may number half a million individuals. This recognition is 
effected by means of an odor, distinctive of the colony and ap- 
parently inheritable. When an ant is washed and then restored 
to its fellows, it is treated at first as an intruder and may even be 
killed. The same is true when the ant has been smeared with 
juices from the bodies of alien ants. According to Miss 
Fielde, workers of colony A, smeared with the juices from 
crushed ants of colony B and then placed in colony B are 
received amicably, but at once set about to destroy their hosts, 
like ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing.’ These statements apply 
only to workers, however, for alien larvae and pupe are fre- 
quently captured and reared by ants, and Miss Fielde states 
