126 A BOOK OF INSECTS 



gence, but is gradually replaced by it in proportion as the 

 special need of the creature demands such an exchange. 

 In the words of Professor Lloyd Morgan, we may say 

 that " where these congenital (or inborn) modes of 

 response take the form of instinctive behaviour, there is 

 supplied a general plan of action which intelligence par- 

 ticularizes in such a manner as to produce accommodation 

 to the conditions of existence." Thus, it comes to pass 

 that in many highly specialised insects with concentrated 

 nerve-centres, pure instinct becomes less important, and 

 consequently less perfect, being replaced by a correspond- 

 ing measure of intelligence derived from the experience 

 of the individual. This fact is well illustrated by Mr. 

 Tickner Edwardes's description of a young hive- bee's early 

 essays as a forager. " The industry of the bee in nectar- 

 gathering " (he writes) " has always been a stock subject 

 for wonder, and it is commonly supposed that she is born 

 with full instinctive capabilities for her task. A little 

 observation, however, soon tends to upset this theory. 

 The work of foraging has to be learnt step by step, like 

 every other species of skilled work in hive-life. The 

 young bee, setting out on her first flight, has all the 

 will to do well, and her imitative faculty is strongly 

 developed ; but she seems to have very little else. Her 

 first experiences are a succession of blunders. She appears 

 not to know for certain where to look for the coveted 

 sweets, and can be seen industriously searching the most 

 unlikely places — crevices in walls, tufts of grass, or the 

 leaves of a plant instead of its flowers. The fact that the 

 nectar is hidden deep down in the cup of the flower, 

 beyond its pollen-bearing mechanism, seems to dawn 

 upon her only after much thought and many fruitless 

 essays." 



To sum up then, we may say that the behaviour of 



