Page:Ant communities and how they are governed; a study in natural civics (IA antcommunitiesho00mcco).pdf/27



RGANIZED society, whether among insects or men, implies some form of government; and that implies citizenship. And fidelity to the just and natural service of citizens is communal righteousness. May we apply such a term to insects? Abnd if so, what is the character of such a quality; or, if one may venture so to put it, what is the quality of such a character? And is it in any measure comparable with communal righteousness as the phrase goes among men? The inquiry will here be limited to ants; but the study requires the statement of some preliminary facts, so that readers may have a true conception of the field which our thoughts are to explore.

Some insects are "solitary"; they live alone. Others are "social"; they live in communities. There is such a striking contrast between the manners of the two groups that one wonders how the distinction arose. True, at the beginning of life most insects are massed, since their mothers lay their eggs in compact clusters. But if one start with the theory that this may have left