ANTS AND ANT LIFE. 67 



and fed, we are involuntarily reminded of the nursing of 

 human babies. The empty cases, or cocoons, are carried 

 outside the nest, and may be seen heaped together there for 

 a long time. Some species carry them far away from the 

 nest, or turn them into building-materials for the dwelling. 



The pupae, entirely freed from their cases, and now young 

 ants, are however not yet ready and armed with all the 

 advantages of a true ant as they ought to be if the in- 

 stinct-theory were true but still need the help and guidance 

 of their elder sisters. As already mentioned, these at first 

 give it food, and begin to lead it about the nest, and train it 

 in a knowledge of domestic duties, especially in the care of 

 the larvae. Later, and after their originally soft skin has 

 become hard, they are taught to distinguish between friend 

 and foe to fight, whereby the important consciousness that 

 they belong to a certain race or a certain colony is awakened 

 in them. If a colony is besieged or attacked by another, 

 it will be noticed that the young ants, which can be easily 

 recognised by their lighter color, never mix in the fray ; 

 they only understand enough to follow their friends in flight, 

 or to drag away the pupae. 



In order to establish this remarkable fact, Forel undertook 

 the following experiment. He brought young ants from 

 three different species into a glass case with pupae of six 

 different species ; all the species were more or less hostile 

 to each other. Damp earth with a piece of glass over it 

 represented the nursery. The young ants set to work 

 together without quarrelling, and carried the pupae under the 

 glass and established them therein. One individual, which 

 was somewhat older and darker, belonging to the species 

 rufibarbis, separated itself and carried its pupae on one side. 

 Forel several times tried to make it approach the others ; it 

 turned back to its corner each time, until at last, as it 

 could not get out of the way of its enemies, it decided to 

 unite with them. When the pupae were ready for emergence, 

 they helped the young ants by tearing their cocoons without 

 respect of persons, although Forel noticed that the members 

 of each species very willingly had to do with the pupae of 

 their own species. Only the pupas of the F. cethiops were 

 somewhat neglected, so that they perished in their closed 

 cocoons. Thus Forel reared an artificial ant-colony out of 

 five different species, which lived together on the best terms. 



