Ants and Some Other Insects: An Inquiry Into the Psychic Powers of These AnimalsForel, Auguste
Science
Ants and Some Other Insects: An Inquiry Into the Psychic Powers of These Animals
Forel, Auguste
Insects -- Biology; Psychology, Comparative
While success visibly heightens both the audacity and tenacity of
the ant-will, it is possible to observe after repeated failure or in
consequence of the sudden and unexpected attacks of powerful enemies
a form of abulic dejection, which may lead to a neglect of the most
important instincts, to cowardly flight, to the devouring or casting
away of offspring, to neglect of work, and similar conditions. There is
a chronically cumulative discouragement in degenerate ant-colonies and
an acute discouragement when a combat is lost. In the latter case one
may see troops of large powerful ants fleeing before a single enemy,
without even attempting to defend themselves, whereas the latter a
few moments previously would have been killed by a few bites from the
fleeing individuals. It is remarkable how soon the victor notices and
utilises this abulic discouragement. The dejected ants usually rally
after the flight and soon take heart and initiative again. But they
offer but feeble resistance, e. g., to a renewed attack from the same
enemy on the following day. Even an ant’s brain does not so soon forget
the defeats which it has suffered.
In bitter conflicts between two colonies of nearly equal strength the
tenacity of the struggle and with it the will to conquer increases till
one of the parties is definitively overpowered. In the realm of will
imitation plays a great rôle. Even among ants protervity and dejection
are singularly contagious.
THE REALM OF FEELING.
It may perhaps sound ludicrous to speak of feelings in insects. But
when we stop to consider how profoundly instinctive and fixed is our
human life of feeling, how pronounced are the emotions in our domestic
animals, and how closely interwoven with the impulses, we should expect
to encounter emotions and feelings in animal psychology. And these
may indeed be recognised so clearly that even Uexkuell would have to
capitulate if he should come to know them more accurately. We find
them already interwoven with the will as we have described it. Most
of the emotions of insects are profoundly united to the instincts.
Of such a nature is the jealousy of the queen bee when she kills the
rival princesses, and the terror of the latter while they are still
within their cells; such is the rage of fighting ants, wasps, and
bees, the above-mentioned discouragement, the love of the brood, the
self-devotion of the worker honey-bees, when they die of hunger while
feeding their queen, and many other cases of a similar description. But
there are also individual emotions that are not compelled altogether
by instinct, e. g., the above-mentioned mania of certain ants for
maltreating some of their antagonists. On the other hand, as I have
shown, friendly services (feeding), under exceptional circumstances,
may call forth feelings of sympathy and finally of partnership,
even between ants of different species. Further than this, feelings
of sympathy, antipathy, and anger among ants may be intensified by
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