chap, v Social Life of Animals 83 



to the three great phases in the history of human develop- 

 ment. 



Very quaint is another habit of this "little people, so 

 exceeding wise," — that of keeping or tolerating guests in the 

 home ! These are mostly little beetles, and have been 

 carefully studied by Dr. Weismann, who distinguishes true 

 guests {Atemeles, Lomeckusa, Claviger) which are cared for 

 and fed by the ants, from others (Dinarda, Haterius, 

 Formicoxenus) which are tolerated, though not treated with 

 special friendliness, and which feed on dead ants or vege- 

 table ddbris ; while a third set are tolerated — like mice in 

 our houses — only because they cannot be readily turned out. 

 Of the genuine guests, the best known is Atemeles, a lively 

 animal, constantly moving its feelers, and experimenting 

 with everything. If one be attacked by a hostile ant, it 

 first seeks to pacify its antagonist by antennary caresses, 

 but if this is hopeless it emits a strong odour, which seems 

 to narcotise the ant. These little familiars are really 

 dependent upon their hosts, who feed them and get 

 caresses in return. It is easy to understand the presence 

 of pests in the ants' home, but Atemeles and Lomechusa 

 are pets, taken away by the owners when there is a flitting, 

 and exhibiting, as Lubbock also observes, " international 

 relations," since they can be shifted from one nest to 

 another, or even from species to species. It seems likely 

 enough, as Emery suggests, that these semi-domesticated 

 pets are moralised intruders, and, like our cats, they seem 

 to retain some of their original traits. 



I cannot linger longer over the interesting character- 

 istics of ants, though I should like to speak of their archi- 

 tecture, of their roads, tunnels, bridges, and covered 

 ways ; of their care for the young, and sometimes even for 

 the disabled ; of their proverbial industry, and yet of their 

 indulgence in " sportive exercise." It would be profitable 

 to think about the contrast between solitary ants (Mutilida) 

 who have no " workers," and the complex life of a com- 

 munity in which there are half a million residents ; or about 

 their aesthetic ' sensitiveness, for they see light and hear 

 sound for which our eyes and ears are not adapted ; or 



