CHAPTER III 



ANTS 



No insect, with the possible exception of the bee, has 

 been more highly and more frequently eulogised than the 

 ant. From Biblical times to the present day its industry 

 has been considered worthy of imitation. There is another, 

 more subtle, reason why the ant appeals to man. Its 

 habit of living in permanent communities bears an un- 

 deniable resemblance to our own condition. " In order 

 to live in permanent commonwealths an organism must be 

 not only remarkably adaptive to changes in its external 

 environment, but must also have an intense feeling of 

 co-operation, forbearance and affection towards the other 

 members of its community." 



Ants occupy a unique position in the insect world 

 because of the number of their individuals and kinds ; 

 their wide distribution over the earth ; their longevity, 

 their perfect adaptation and special modes of life and their 

 relationships with plants and other animals, including 

 man. Wherever one goes, ants may be found from the 

 Polar regions to the Tropics, from the dampest forests 

 to the driest deserts, on the summits of the highest 

 mountains or on the seashore. Their colonies often out- 

 live a generation of men. They are not handicapped in 

 their mode of life like other social insects ; their diet is not 

 restricted, as in the case of the termites and bees ; nor, 

 as a rule, do they build their nests of expensive material, 

 so that they can easily remove themselves and their 

 broods to another place, when their nest is threatened with 

 destruction or when weather conditions are unfavourable. 

 Espinas says, that ants owe their success to their terrestrial 

 habits. " When it is necessary for an aerial animal, like 



42 



