i.J METAMORPHOSES OF INSECTS. 13 



But it has not been shown that the beetles produce 

 any secretion of use to the ants; and yet there are 

 some remarkable species, rarely, if ever, found, ex- 

 cepting in ants' nests, which are blind and apparently 

 helpless, and which the ants tend with much care. 



M. Lespes, who regards these blind beetles as 

 true domestic animals, has recorded l some interest- 

 ing observations on the relations between one of them 

 (Claviger Duvalii ) and the ants (Lasius nigcr) with 

 which it lives. This species of Claviger is never met 

 with except in ants' nests, though on the other hand 

 there are many communities of Lasius which possess 

 none of these beetles ; and M. Lespes found that 

 when he placed Clavigers in a nest of ants which 

 had none of their own, the beetles were immediately 

 killed and eaten, the ants themselves being on the 

 other hand kindly received by other communities of 

 the same species. He concludes from these obser- 

 vations that some communities of ants are more ad- 

 vanced in civilization than others : the suggestion is 

 no doubt ingenious, and the fact curiously resembles 

 the experience of navigators who have endeavoured 

 to introduce domestic animals among barbarous 

 tribes ; but M. Lespes has not yet, so far as I am 

 aware, published the details of his observations, 

 without which it is impossible to form a decided 

 opinion. I have sometimes wondered whether the 

 ants have any feeling of reverence for these beetles ; 

 but the whole subject is as yet very obscure, and 

 would well repay careful study. 



1 "Surla Domestication des Clavigers par les Fourmis." Bull, de la 

 Soc. d'Anthropologie de Paris, 1868, p. 315. 



