Animal Intelligence: The International Scientific Series, Vol. XLIV.Romanes, George John
Science
Animal Intelligence: The International Scientific Series, Vol. XLIV.
Romanes, George John
Animal behavior; Animal intelligence
Remarkable cases occur of commensalism between certain crabs and
sea-anemones, and they betoken much intelligence. Thus Professor Möbius
says in his 'Beiträge zur Meeresfauna der Insel Mauritius' (1880) that
there are two crabs belonging to different genera which have the habit
of firmly grasping a sea-anemone in each claw and carrying them about,
presumably to secure some benefit to themselves. The more familiar case
of the species of anemone which lives on the shells tenanted by hermit
crabs is of special interest to us on account of a remarkable
observation published by Mr. Gosse, F.R.S. (_Zoologist_, June, 1859). He
found that on his detaching the anemone (_Adamsia_) from the shell, the
hermit crab always took it up in its claws and held it against the shell
'for the space of ten minutes at a time, until fairly attached by a good
strong base.' It was said by the late Dr. Robert Ball that when the
common _Sagartia parasitica_ is attached to a stone and a hermit crab is
placed in its vicinity, the anemone will leave the stone and attach
itself to the hermit's shell (_Critic_, March 24, 1860).
_Intelligence of Larvæ of Certain Insects._
I shall now allude to some of the more interesting facts touching the
psychology of insects when in their immature or larval state. This is an
interesting topic from the point of view which we occupy as
evolutionists, because a caterpillar is really a locomotive and
self-feeding embryo, whose entire mental constitution is destined to
undergo a metamorphosis no less complete and profound than that which is
also destined to take place in its corporeal structure. Yet although the
caterpillar has an embryo psychology, its instincts and even
intelligence often seem to be higher or more elaborated than is the case
with the imago form. Where such is the case the explanation of course
must be that it is of more importance to the species that the larval
form should be in a certain measure intelligent than that the imago form
should be so. Every larva is a potential imago, or breeding individual;
therefore its life is of no less value to the species during its larval
than during its adult existence; and if certain instincts or grades of
intelligence are of more use to it during the former than during the
latter period, of course natural selection would determine the unusual
event which we seem here in some cases to see--namely, that the embryo
should stand on a higher level of psychological development than the
adult.
I may most fitly begin under this heading with the remarkable instincts
of the so-called 'ant-lion,' which is the larva of a neuropterous
insect, the common _Myrmeleon_ (_M. formicarium_). I quote the following
account of its habits from Thompson's 'Passions of Animals' (p. 258):--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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