32 Chapter I. 



into the inner parts of the nest is generally done by 

 rufa or sanguinea. 



It was of special interest to watch the behavior of 

 my ants, when a new individual of the beetle Lorn- 

 echusa strumosa which lives with F. sanguinea as a 

 genuine guest, was introduced into the top nest. At 

 first, as long as there were no rufa and pratensis in the 

 nest as auxiliaries, he was, if not descending into the 

 main nest himself, taken at last by a sanguinea and 

 carried down, in spite of his obstinate, passive resist- 

 ance. Later on it was generally rufa and pratensis 

 that transported the guest who attracted their attention 

 in a remarkable degree. Once a rufa happened to be 

 alone in the top nest and for a long time was trying 

 in vain to get hold of one of the two Loniechusas 

 happening to be there, when all at once she ran down 

 to the front nest. Scarcely more than three seconds 

 had elapsed before she returned with four other rufas 

 which she had called to her assistance. Now the five 

 rufas immediately set to work with united efforts 

 to raise the Loniechusas, each of which was then car- 

 ried down to the main nest by one of the ants.^ 



If similar scenes had been witnessed in a society 

 formed of different species of higher animals, we could 

 not help admiring the harmonious co-operation and the ^ 

 suitable, but by no means mechanical, division of labor. 

 However, it is not the higher animals, but ants that 

 act in this way, and in order to save the pretended 

 intelligence of the former, ants are classed as in- 



^) A more accurate description of the last-mentioned observation 

 will be found in our essay, "Die psychischen Faehigkeiten der 

 Ameisen" ("Zoologica," 26th issue, Stuttgart, 1899), p. 63 ff. in the 

 chapter on the power of communication in ants. 



