SIR JOHN LUBBOCK ON BEES AND WASPS. Ill 



Nor are the facts recorded by Kirby and Spence more explicit. 

 It is therefore disappointing to read in the chapter especially 

 devoted to this subject *, that, as regards the power possessed by 

 Ants and Bees to communicate and receive information, " it is 

 only necessary to refer you to the endless facts in proof, furnished 

 by almost every page of my letters on the history of Ants and of 

 the Hive Bee. I shall therefore but detain you for a moment 

 with an additional anecdote or two, especially with one respecting 

 the former tribe, which is valuable from the celebrity of the 

 narrator." 



The first of these anecdotes refers to a Beetle {Ateit^chus pilu- 

 larius), which having made for the reception of its eggs a pellet 

 of dung too heavy for it to move " repaired to an adjoining heap 

 and soon returned with three of his companions. All four 

 now applied their united strength to the pellet and at length 

 succeeded in pushing it out, which being done, the three assist- 

 ant Beetles left the spot and returned to their own quarters." 

 This observation rests on the authority of an anonymous German 

 artist ; and though we are assured that he was a " man of strict 

 veracity," I am not aware that any similar fact has been recorded 

 by any other observer. 



The second case is related by Kalm, on the authority of 

 Dr. Franklin ; but it does not seem to me to justify the conclu- 

 sions drawn from it by Messrs. Kirby and Spence. Dr. 

 Franklin having found a number of Ants in a jar of treacle, 

 shook them out and suspended the jar " by a string from the 

 ceiling. By chance one Ant remained, which, after eating its 

 fill, with some difficulty found its way up the string, and, thence 

 reaching the ceiling, escaped by the wall to its nest. In less than 

 half an hour a great company of Ants sallied out of their hole, 

 climbed the ceiling, crept along the string into the pot and began 

 to eat again ; this they continued until the treacle was all con- 

 sumed, one swarm running up the string while another passed 

 down. It seems indisputable that the one Ant had in this instance 

 conveyed news of the booty to his comrades, who would not 

 otherwise have at once directed their steps in a body to the only 

 accessible route " f. 



As regards "Wasps, Huber states that they are also acquainted 

 with the mode of imparting information to their companions. 



When a single Wasp discovers a strong-hold of sugar, honey, 

 * L. c. p. 422. t L. c. p. 422. 



