32 A NATURALIST IN HIMALAYA 



had imparted to the whole nest a sense of impending 

 danger. 



It is surprising that these ants do not appear to have 

 the power of informing one another of the discovery 

 of food. With most of their lives employed in collect- 

 ing seeds, it might have been expected that their 

 faculty of communication would have been developed 

 to this degree. But such is not the case. I placed 

 some chopped walnuts, of which the ants are very 

 fond, a little distance from the nest. I marked the 

 first ant that discovered the nuts with a speck of white 

 paint. After carrying off a morsel it returned again 

 and again, but never brought any companions. All 

 the ants marked in this way possessed a very excellent 

 memory for location, but they were utterly unable to 

 bring others to the place. 



If an ant is lost it can gain nothing by questioning 

 another ant. I have frequently watched an ant seeking 

 in vain for the orifice of its nest, meeting with other 

 ants and rubbing antennae with them. No doubt in 

 this way it recognized its comrades, but it found no 

 help in regaining its road. It was clear that to ask the 

 question " Which is the way to my nest ? " is a mode of 

 communication far too refined for so humble a creature. 

 However close may be the intercourse that takes place 

 between the lost ant and its companions, the former 

 never receives any information that may help it to find 

 the way to its nest. 



I will mention some special habits which I have 

 observed from time to time in the daily life of this 

 harvester. The illustrious Huber remarked that ants 

 of the species Formica pratensis play games, indulge 

 in sport and enjoy themselves on the surface of their 



