INT I IM'I I \M" 301 



Origin of the Social Habit. \Vh l< r regards "trophalla 

 meaning exchange of noiiri>hinent , as tin I habit in 



Wasps, ants, and termites; though admitting that the phenomenon has 

 not been observed in the social bees. He >ays: "If we confine our 

 attention largely to the anN. I believe it < an be >lio\vn t hat trophallaxi.-, 

 originally developed as a mutual trophic relation bel \\een the n. 

 insect and her larval brood, has expanded with the growth of the 

 colony like an ever-widening vortex till it involves, first, all the adults 

 11 as the brood and therefore the entire colony; second, a great 

 number of species of alien insects that have managed to get a foothold 

 in the nest as scavengers, praedators or parasites (symphily); third, 

 alien social insects i.e., other species of ants (social parasitism); 

 fourth, alien insects that live outside the nest and are "milked" by 

 the ants (trophobiosis) ; and, fifth, certain plants which are visited or 

 sometimes partly inhabited by the ants (phytophily)." 





