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CHAPTER XL 



ON RECOGNITION AMONG ANTS. 



DuETNG the many years that I have had ants under 

 observation, I have never on any occasion seen any- 

 thing like a quarrel between any two ants belonging 

 to the same community. This is certainly very much 

 to their credit. The experience of Huber, Forel, 

 McCook, and others who have watched ants, is, 

 moreover, the same as mine. I have also shown* that 

 they recognize one another even after a separation of 

 a year and nine months. 



On the other hand, every community of ants is hostile 

 to every other. I am not now speaking of ants belong- 

 ing to different kinds, but of ants belonging to the same 

 species. Some species, indeed, are more intolerant of 

 strangers than others ; but, as regards most species of 

 ants, it may be said that if an individual be taken from 

 its own nest and introduced into another, even though 

 belonging to the same species, it will be at once attacked 

 and driven, or rather dragged, out. 



These facts, then, show that the ants of a community 

 all recognize one another. But when we consider the 

 immense number of ants in a nest, amounting in some 

 cases to over 500,000, this is indeed a wonderful fact. 



* See " Ants, Bees, and Wasps." 



