II ON ANIMAL LIFE 61 



weeks just as if she had been alive. One 

 could hardly help fancying that they were 

 mourning her loss, or hoping anxiously for 

 her recovery. 



The Communities of Ants are sometimes 

 very large, numbering even up to 500,000 

 individuals ; and it is a lesson to us, that no 

 one has ever yet seen a quarrel between any 

 two Ants belonging to the same community. 

 On the other hand it must be admitted that 

 they are in hostility, not only with most other 

 insects, including Ants of different species, 

 but even with those of the same species if 

 belonging to different communities. I have 

 over and over again introduced Ants from 

 one of my nests into another nest of the same 

 species, and they were invariably attacked, 

 seized by a leg or an antenna, and dragged 

 out. 



It is evident therefore that the Ants of 

 each community all recognise one another, 

 which is very remarkable. But more than 

 this, I several times divided a nest into two 

 halves, and found that even after a separation 

 of a year and nine months they recognised 



