206 INTELLIGENCE IN INSECTS 



little. The celebrated instance adduced by Leuckart of 

 ants bringing grains of sand to cover a streak of tobacco 

 solution across their trail may be explained in a similar way. 



Another instance. Kirby and Spence record a case 

 communicated by a German artist, whom they were assured 

 was "a man of strict veracity." A dung beetle, having 

 made a pellet for the reception of its eggs, found that it was 

 unable to roll the pellet out of a depression into which it 

 had fallen. The beetle then repaired to a dung heap near by 

 and returned with three companions, with whose assistance 

 the ball was rolled out, after which the three beetles took 

 their departure. This is one of the evidences from which 

 insects are considered to be "able to communicate and 

 receive information, which, in whatever way effected, 

 would be impracticable if they were devoid of reason." 



Blanchard in his " Metamorphoses, Moeurs et Instincts 

 des Insectes," gives an account of a very similar performance, 

 which the author considers to evince " une intelligence de la 

 situation vraiment e*tonnante, et une facility de communica- 

 tion entre les individus de la meme especes, plus surprenante 

 encore." Here again we must take into consideration the 

 normal instinctive behavior of these insects. Frequently 

 two or more beetles are found rolling the same ball. As 

 Fabre has shown in his careful studies of the sacred scarab, 

 an allied beetle with similar habits, such associations are 

 dependent on quite different motives than the altruistic 

 desire of rendering assistance. The helpful comrades turn 

 out to be bent on getting the ball for themselves. Sometimes 

 they abandon the task voluntarily; often they wage a com- 

 bat with the original owner. The succoring of a comrade in 

 distress is only an appearance which a fuller study of the 

 habits of these insects places in a quite different light. 



These cases illustrate a common source of erroneous 



