building of immense size for insects so diminutive; they neither employ
in its construction, like the bee, a valuable material which they have
themselves formed, nor a light and thin substance resembling the finest
pasteboard, such as that the wasp uses in the formation of its nest;
its mortar is already prepared, the earth, rain-water, and the benefit
of the sun, is all that is required in their masonry. The foundations
of a new story are laid, walls are raised, ceilings are constructed,
and their abode is arranged, with a view rather to convenience than
regularity.
Here I observe, proceed from the trunk of a tree, a file of ants; they
have hewn out in the solid wood vast chambers, a multitude of lodges
and stories, corridors and colonnades, to which the air has free access.
On removing to another country, I observe a certain species of ant,
availing itself of the down of a cotton-plant to shelter, more warmly
and commodiously, the little ones confided to its care. No insect,
indeed, presents such a variety in their dwellings; a particular talent
seems to be displayed in the labours of each, indicating to them the
nature and use of the several substances within reach.
Let us pass from their architecture to the cares they bestow upon the
rising generation. What a contrast is there not afforded between the
social insects, and those that lead a solitary existence; the latter
are, for the most part, unacquainted with their family; they provide
for their necessities, establish their dwelling, but very few will
see the egg to which they give birth. This affixes its eggs around a
branch; that trusts them to a fragile leaf; another abandons them
to the current of the waters: some place them in the sand, like the
ostrich, leaving them to be brought to perfection by the heat of the
sun; others, the isolated mothers, prepare themselves (before laying)
the food for the larvæ which will proceed from their eggs; some,
furnished with an instrument for this purpose, deposit them in the body
of a living fly, in the larvæ of other insects, or in the skin itself
of the larger animals; others, by means of a double saw, lodge them
in the bark of trees. These form subterraneous caverns, in which they
arrange caterpillars near their offspring, who, on quitting the egg,
find the food they require; others form a chamber in the earth, which
they adorn with rose and poppy-leaves: they prepare for the nourishment
of their young a paste, composed of honey and the pollen of plants;
they deposit their eggs; their task is finished; they die.
The greater number of solitary insects, guided by a blind instinct,
assure themselves of the existence of the succeeding generation,
but they do not live sufficiently long to see the developement of
their young; we cannot, therefore, refer their conduct to motives of
affection.
Those insects which live in society are devoted to the care of their
family; there reigns between them an intimate bond of union, from
which result relations that cannot exist among the former. What an
interesting scene is there not offered to us on viewing this hive of
bees, that nest of humble-bees, those wasps, and, particularly, these
ants. I see the humble-bee prepare a cell for its young, which it
partly fills with the food necessary for their preservation, under a
fear, perhaps, of not being able, alone, to satisfy their wants: if
their provisions are exhausted, the mother nourishes them herself; she
visits the flowers, and then returns to her nest, bestowing upon the
larvæ which are disclosed the most assiduous attention: she enlarges
their cell, and watches over their safety, until they become themselves
real workers, capable of assisting her in taking care of those to whom
she is about to give birth. A society is established between the mother
and her young: each day the circle of her relations is extended, and
the union is rendered more perfect.
Among bees, properly so called, an innumerable crowd of workers are
produced from a single mother. If, however, maternal feelings and the
delights of love are denied them, they do not the less evince their
affection and solicitude for the young of their common mother; they
nourish them, and defend them with a zeal and disinterestedness truly
praiseworthy.
The ants carry still further this devotedness for their charge: they
take care of and nurture them, even in the state of eggs, and give them
_mouth-provision_ in that of larvæ: when the latter are become pupæ,
they procure for them an agreeable temperature, and when they are
ready to undergo their transformation, these are the common parents,
who extricate them from their cocoons, taking care of them until they
are in a condition to fly, or discharge the duties to which they are
respectively called.
In consequence of these attentions to them in their infancy, there
arises a reciprocal affection between these insects. Hence the nature
of the society which we observe among them. Thus what principally
distinguishes them from those insects which live in solitude, is the
attention they bestow upon the education of their young.
But what a prodigy is that in nature, of being able to receive
advantage from sterility itself, to ensure the preservation of the
species; of inspiring the labourers with unbounded affection for the
offspring of another mother, and confiding to them the charge of their
education. The mother, too fecund to rear, unassisted, all her young,
finds in her society, a number of assistants, who take upon themselves
the several labours: these are endowed with the highest degree of
industry, activity, zeal, and courage: fecundity alone is denied them.
In what rests the secret of this organisation, incomplete as to sex,
perfect as to industry? Admirable combination of an incomprehensible
nature! It has been fully proved, that bees can, in time of need, elect
a queen from among the youngest larvæ; that the education, nourishment,
and size of the cell destined for her, give rise to her being endowed
with amazing fecundity, devoted to a state of repose, and receiving
the homages of a numerous republic. Had it, however, been reared, like
the other larvæ, it would have participated in the labours and dangers
which fall to the lot of the workers. Can we conceive how means so
simple should produce such powerful effects?
From such an institution arise those intimate and mutual relations,
those assiduities which the education of the young requires, that
assemblage of labours, that love for the country, that language, &c. we
so much admire in these colonies. Every where else, each female lives
separately. The only relations between solitary insects are occasioned
by difference of sex; but, regarding those who live in society, we
observe, a family more or less numerous, more or less powerful; all the
members of which, of whatever order they be, understand each other,
and yield mutual assistance; living, in common, upon the provision the
workers bring in. This constitution is one of the wonders of nature;
thus has she been pleased to establish several kinds of republics upon
the same principle.
Among bees and ants, a multitude of workers are born each year; but
in these republics there are but a small number of females. Let us
now attend to those astonishing circumstances with which their
impregnation is accompanied.
The mystery of the fecundation of the queen bee, has, from time
immemorial, excited the attention of naturalists; it has, therefore,
been the subject of the most profound researches; their respective
authors passing from error to error, from conjecture to conjecture,
came to doubt of the queen’s having sexual intercourse with the male.
It was reserved for a mind eminently endowed with all those qualities
which constitute the philosopher and naturalist, that penetration, that
logic, that extension of thought, so uncommon, of interrogating nature
by the organ of another[2], of, at length, decyphering those lines of
the great book, which contain the surprising phenomenon, of which bees
offer the only example.
[2] I rather think the author here alludes to the distressing state
of his father, who has, for many years, laboured under the greatest
of bodily privations--loss of sight. His ardour in the investigation
of his favourite subject, suffered no diminution. A faithful domestic
attended, and gave him information of what was passing in the interior
of his glass-hives.--T.
At this period we observe a vast number of males in the hives; they
quit them in a large body, and disperse. The young queen alone, without
followers, leaves her abode, goes forth to be impregnated in the air,
and returns to her numerous family, bringing back not only titles to
the consideration of her subjects, but the indisputable proof, that
the favoured male has lost his life in performing this last duty. A
thousand curious circumstances attend this brilliant discovery.
Shall we at present speak of the combat of the queens; of their
imprisonment; of the expulsion of the supernumeraries? Let us rather
leave to the reader the pleasure of learning these astonishing
truths in the original, and let us see what passes, under the same
circumstances, with ants. In this instance, the males and females are
distinguished from the unprolific race, by the faculty of flying. When
the day of their departure arrives, they quit the nest in a crowd,
accompanied by a numerous retinue of workers, who cannot follow them
to any distance. They take flight, complete their junction in the
midst of the swarms they form in the air, and never return to their
original abode. The males in a short time perish; for they know not
how to provide for their necessities; but the females are destined to
extend the republics of their species; they are, therefore, under the
necessity of going and establishing the foundations of them alone, and
unassisted. One would be inclined to believe that the wings, with which
they are provided, would be of advantage to them in their labours; but
Supreme Intelligence has ordered it otherwise; for as soon as they are
impregnated, they renounce that prerogative, which no longer agrees
with their new condition, and tear away of their own accord, and with
effect, those members which appear to us a gift from Heaven.
For what purpose has Nature required from them this sacrifice? Did she
wish, in this way, to render them more sedentary? Or was it not rather
in order to prevent their return to the natal ant-hill? This latter
conjecture seems to me the most plausible. What would have happened
did they possess the power of returning to their original family? That
the ant-hills would not have been scattered, that they would have
constituted but one immense habitation, which would soon have exhausted
the resources of its neighbourhood. This inconvenience would have
existed with bees, who do not reject their wings, had not that wisdom
which regulates the universe, guarded against it, by inspiring the
queens with mutual aversion and insurmountable dread of each other; so
much so, that the oldest quits her abode, and leads off with her a part
of her subjects, to found a new colony.
Humble-bees and wasps have not the power of re-assembling for the
purpose of forming one entire colony. Nature, without depriving them
of the use of their wings, guards against their abuse by dissolving
every year their republics.
What admirable variety in her productions, and in her laws! What
resources! With what care does she avoid repetition! It appears,
that every possible combination exists at the same time. There, the
republics are permanent; here, they are renewed every year. One of
these nations sends off, each year, several colonies, and the numerous
swarms go to tenant the woods and rocks; the other never divides; it
rests entire; allowing the departure of only a few individuals, who
go forth, separately, to found new societies. It was not sufficient
to multiply these societies, it was still necessary to provide for
their duration. These, then, are the means employed to sustain their
population, from age to age. In the case of bees, one single female
reigns over a numerous colony; her size, and especially her remarkable
fecundity, secure her the homage of her subjects. She keeps up the
population of the hive, and suffers none to dispute her authority.
However, at the period when she gives birth to males, the bees, who are
aware, perhaps, that she bears also the germs of females, prepare royal
cells: in these she deposits her eggs; and the larvæ, when disclosed,
become queens. The mother does not regard, without aversion, these
individuals, who may contend with her for pre-eminence: she endeavours
to destroy the objects of her anger; but the workers prevent her
reaching those cells which contain their forthcoming chiefs. The queen,
agitated with the fear of seeing them quit their cells, abandons the
hive, accompanied by a numerous colony, leaving behind her several
females destined to be her successors, who, after having disputed the
empire, or induced one part of the inhabitants to desert with them,
resign to one of their rivals, the sovereignty, or, at least, the
right of depositing her eggs alone, in the hive which witnessed their
birth.
A constitution, widely different, obtains with ants: several females
equally divide the important functions of procreation; they do not
evince that hatred, nor do we perceive any of that jealousy, of which
we have an example in bees; they also receive, in common, the homages
of the other casts. When the young females depart, for the purpose
of founding new states, the inhabitants of each city, endowed with
admirable prudence, retain some few to supply the place of those about
to terminate their career. It is thus the population of each republic
is sustained and increased.
The terms of Queens, of Subjects, of Constitution, of Republics, must
not be taken according to the strict letter. The unity or plurality
of females presents but a poor image of our different forms of
governments: in truth, each of these orders follows the laws of
its own instinct, without being conscious of any subordination; it,
notwithstanding, happens, that some few possess over the rest a certain
degree of influence, independent of any authority, properly so called.
The Termites, inhabitants of southern climates, also effect their union
in the air, fall upon the ground, and lose, as we are informed, their
wings. But who can teach us the secrets of their astonishing society?
why nature has produced amongst them four sorts of individuals?--one
single mother, who, when pregnant, becomes a hundred times more bulky
than at first; winged males; apterous neuters, appointed to the
household management, and the construction of their gigantic edifice;
and others, instructed only in the arts of war. Reaumur, De Geer,
Bonnet, &c. found without going any distance, subjects worthy of
exciting their attention. All our riches in this department have not
been yet explored. The wars of bees, already sung by a great poet,[3]
would furnish their historian with a rich and brilliant subject.
Hitherto, we have not been enabled to compare those in which ants
engage, to those of any other species of animals.
[3] _Vide_ Virgil’s Georgics, 4th Canto. These combats have been
described with great accuracy by the poet.--A.
If it be true, that war is one of the consequences of social order,
what shall we be induced to think, on perceiving regular armies issuing
from the gates of two rival cities, and going to the rencontre upon an
eminence, where battle is given, and where equal courage and carnage
are displayed on each side? What shall we say of those bodies of
troops, who only wait the signal of danger, to come to the assistance
of the advanced guard? of those champions, which struggle in pairs?
of those chains of wrestlers, who balance their strength, and seize
the favourable moment to destroy the equilibrium? of those prisoners
led away to the enemy’s camp, &c.? Is not this a strong image of our
serious quarrels?
But how strikingly does it contrast with our manners, that the arms,
courage, military skill, should, in these republics, rest with the
female sex[4]; whilst feebleness, idleness, and exile, fall to the lot
of the males. Those of bees, still worse treated, are put to death,
as soon as they have fulfilled their only functions. With wasps and
humble-bees, they are also destitute of arms, and show no industry; but
they are not the object of the fury of the workers: the severity of the
winter, as they know not, like the females, how to shelter themselves,
produces, generally speaking, their death. By what art are the workers
charged with the defence of the republic, enabled to reconnoitre,
understand, assist, and succour each other? The subtlety of their
senses, or rather that unbounded affection which exists between them
teaches them to distinguish, in their contests, their companions from
their enemies: a language, significant and extremely rapid, informs
them of the danger of their companions, or the success of their
enterprise. This language is the bond of that union, you remark in this
numerous family; it is not by sounds, or visible signs, but by contact
alone, that it is manifested, more particularly by the antennæ, those
organs which distinguish insects from all other living beings: these
serve, in those species collected in societies, the noble purpose
of communicating, from one individual to another, the impressions,
situation, and necessities of each: the antennal language is, without
doubt, imperfect, if we compare it with our wants, but amply suffices
for those of ants.
[4] It must be remembered that the workers are not neuters, but
females, whose moral, if I may use this expression, has been developed
at the expense of their physical condition.--A.
Bees also make use of signs, although they are no strangers to sounds.
When the queen wishes to lead away some part of the metropolis, to
found a new city, she passes from rank to rank, striking and exciting
each worker she meets, to accompany her: the movement is, at length,
general through the whole hive, and the swarm rush into the open air.
Should any strange animal, or insect, attempt to enter their abode,
the alarm is in an instant given, and a thousand lives are ready to be
sacrificed; but when their queen, as yet a prisoner, emits a shrill,
piercing cry, a general stupor immediately pervades the whole of the
bees, they all incline their head, and seem as if paralysed.
Wasps are also acquainted with the mode of imparting information to
their companions. When a single wasp discovers a strong-hold of sugar,
honey, or other article of food, it returns to its nest, and brings
off, in a short time, a hundred other wasps; but we are yet ignorant,
if it be by visible, or palpable signs, they are mutually informed of
this discovery.
It was in the nature of things, that all those beings living in
society, should have a language; but ants, who appear, in several
respects, to merit the pre-eminence over other insects, extend this
faculty even to the pucerons, from whom they obtain their nourishment.
The art, still more surprising, of rendering them domestic, has
nothing analagous in the other republics of which we have spoken: this
prerogative appears to touch upon the domain of man. But the Author
of all things has limited the power of these petty republics, in not
permitting them to make use of other arms than those with which they
are naturally provided; the inventive faculties have been denied them,
notwithstanding we have witnessed a few traits, which seem to announce
some species of combination. Their wants and their means have been
calculated beforehand, so that their instinct is not susceptible of
being brought to higher perfection.
In the number of those magnificent views of creation, which it is
permitted us to observe, we perceive man, so placed in the general
scale, that under the guidance of his own genius, and proud, perhaps,
of his brilliant faculties, he does not see any of those minute chains
by which he is surrounded. If delivered over, in some degree, to
himself, he sometimes meets in his institutions, and in his arts, with
the laws and proceedings nature has dictated to animals; it amounts
to a certain proof of his relation with disposing Intelligence: the
works of the latter, however, bear the impress of Infinite Wisdom, and
the conceptions of man, the seal of imperfection. In regarding those
colonies, which exist at our very feet, and where so much harmony
and order prevail, I think, I perceive the Author of nature, tracing
with his all-powerful hand, the laws of a republic exempt from abuse,
or framing the model of those compound societies, where servitude is
allied to a common interest.
The Author of nature has so willed it, that certain ants should
associate in their labours other workers of an industrious species,
upon whom is to devolve the office of rearing their young, and
providing their subsistence; whilst they themselves, abandoned to
warlike enterprise, and passing from a state of combat to one of ease,
are to enjoy the industry and share the affection and attention of
these strange ants. This institution, wisely combined, fulfils every
desirable condition. The slaves of the Amazons, carried away in their
infancy, perceiving no change in their country, attach themselves to
their captors, display their usual natural activity, and, unacquainted
with forced labours, and subject to no kind of oppression, have even,
as we have seen, a sufficiently extensive authority in the city which
has adopted them.
This great trait, in which is displayed unbounded wisdom, in calling
to our mind the abuses to which a similar institution is subject,
among several civilised nations, induces us to admire the mildness of
those laws, by which Providence rules these colonies, of which, she
has reserved to herself the entire direction; and shows us, that, in
delivering man to his own guidance, she has subjected him to a great
and heavy responsibility. If natural history had only served to prove
this truth, it would have attained the most dignified end of which
the sciences may boast--that of endeavouring to ameliorate the human
species, by the examples it lays before us.
APPENDIX.
NOTES
RELATIVE TO THE SPECIES.
The manners and habits of ants are so extremely varied, that it is
necessary to know, to what species we must refer each trait of their
industry,--each particular of their history.
With the view of distinguishing them more particularly, I have
transcribed several descriptions from Latreille; some extracted
from his Essay, upon the History of the Ants of France, “_Essai sur
l’Histoire des Fourmis de la France_;” others, from his Natural History
of Ants, “_Histoire Naturelle des Fourmis_.”
I feel proud in being able to add to this work the observations of my
esteemed friend and fellow citizen, Professor Jurine, so well known to
Naturalists, by his Memoirs upon Insects, “_Méthode nouvelle de classer
les Insectes_,” _&c._ and by his fine collection.
Not relying on my own judgment for a classification of ants, I
begged this gentleman would have the kindness to describe several
species, hitherto undescribed, concerning which it was necessary, more
particularly, to know the characters.
To these descriptions I shall add a few remarks, which my experience
has suggested.
DESCRIPTION
OF
THE SEVERAL ANTS
MENTIONED IN THESE RESEARCHES.
+The Herculean Ant.+
(_F. Herculanea_, Linn.)
W.[1]--Black. _Thorax_, base of the _abdomen_, _thighs_ of a
blood-red. _Length_, five to six lines.
F.--Black. Sides of the _thorax_, _scale_, base of the _abdomen_ of
a bay-red. _Superior wings_, entirely of a smoky black.
M.--Very black. _Superior wings_, smoky black. _Scale_, thick,
emarginate. _Tarsi_ and _knees_ ferruginous.
+Latreille+, _Essai sur l’Hist. des
Fourmis de la France_.
[1] The Males, Females, and Workers, are here designated by their
initial letters.
+The Ethiopian Ant.+
(_F. Nigra._)
W.--Elongate, very black, shining. _Mandibles_ and _legs_ of a
blackish brown. _Abdomen_ hairy. _Length_, three to five lines.