434 ELEMENTARY BIOLOGY 



differently at different ages ; thus, when first out of the pupal 

 stage the young bee is a nurse. She does not leave the hive 

 to forage for a week or more, and she is more fuzzy now than 

 those in the foraging stage, because she has not had the time 

 and the trials to break or rub off her hairs. 



The high degree to which the division of labor is carried among 

 the social insects, and the complexity of their various activities, have 

 led to a great deal of speculation as to how the animals are directed 

 in their cooperations. Do the insects remember and plan and fit their 

 actions to purposes in the same sense as human beings do ? There 

 is a great deal of evidence to show that what has been called recog- 

 nition by a bee or ant of others from the same colony is nothing at 

 all like our recognition of those with whom we are familiar. It is 

 more like what happens when a blind person smells a rose that 

 arouses agreeable feelings in him. And so with many other peculiari- 

 ties of these animals, it is possible to understand much of what they 

 do without assuming intelligence. 



461. Coordination. In the division of labor there is involved 

 a great deal of coordination. That is, so long as it is impos- 

 sible for each individual to carry on a complete life, it is neces- 

 sary that there be some way of exchanging materials or services. 

 This situation has frequently been compared to the physio- 

 logical division of labor that we find in our own bodies and 

 in other many-celled organisms. We have seen that there is 

 a great deal of coordination through the blood system, through 

 the lymph, and through the nervous system. In a colony of 

 disconnected individuals the coordination must be brought 

 about by what the animals do to each other directly, or by 

 means of the materials with which they all deal. But it is not 

 necessary to assume that there is a conscious cooperation that 

 involves common aims and intercommunication. 



There can be conscious cooperation only where there is also 

 a certain degree of general intelligence. In every case there is 

 a great deal of interdependence, so that the individual separated 

 from the group becomes almost helpless. 



