178 EXPERIMENT WITH AN ATTA. 
hurried on to the fly. They were even less energetic 
than the first party ; and when they found they had 
lost sight of their guide, they one and all returned to 
the nest. In the meantime several of the first detach- 
ment had found the fly, and one of them succeeded in 
detaching a leg, with which she returned in triumph 
to the nest, coming out again directly with 4 or 5 
companions. These latter, with one exception, soon 
gave up the chase and returned to the nest. I do not 
think so much of this last case, because as the ant 
carried in a substantial piece of booty in the shape of 
the fly’s leg, it is not surprising that her friends should 
some of them accompany her on her return; but 
surely the other two cases indicate a distinct power of 
communication. 
Lest, however, it should be supposed that the result 
was accidental, I determined to try it again. Accord- 
ingly on the following day I put another large dead fly 
before an ant belonging to the same nest, pinning it 
to a piece of cork as before. After trying in vain for 
ten minutes to move the fly, my ant started off home. 
At that time I could only see two other ants of that 
species outside the nest. Yet in a few seconds, con- 
siderably less than a minute, she emerged with no less 
than 12 friends. As-in the previous case, she ran 
on ahead, and they followed very slowly and by no 
means directly, taking, in fact, nearly half an hour to 
reach the fly. The first ant, after vainly labouring for 
about a quarter of an hour to move the fly, started off 
