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
We take a couple; the cleanser has begun at the face,
which is licked thoroughly, even the mandibles being
cared for, they being held apart for convenient
manipulation. From the face the cleanser passes to the
thorax, thence to the haunch, and so along the first
leg, along the second and third in the same manner,
around to the abdomen, and thence up the other side of
the ant to the head. A third ant approaches and joins
in the friendly task, but soon abandons the field to
the original cleanser. The attitude of the cleansed
all this while is one of intense satisfaction, quite
resembling that of a family dog when one is scratching
the back of his neck. The insect stretches out her
limbs, and, as her friend takes them successively into
hand, yields them limp and supple to her manipulation;
she rolls gently over upon her side, even quite over
upon her back, and with all her limbs relaxed presents
a perfect picture of muscular surrender and ease. The
pleasure which the creatures take in being thus
'combed' and 'sponged' is really enjoyable to the
observer. I have seen an ant kneel down before another
and thrust forward the head, drooping, quite under the
face, and lie there motionless, thus expressing, as
plainly as sign-language could, her desire to be
cleansed. I at once understood the gesture, and so did
the supplicated ant, for she at once went to work. If
analogies in nature-studies were not so apt to be
misleading, one might venture to suggest that our
insect friends are thus in possession of a modified
sort of Emmetonian Turkish bath.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account