probability the
actions of ants are for the most part instinctive or reflex, and some
observers, such as A. Bethe, deny them all claim to psychical qualities.
But it seems impossible to doubt that in many cases ants behave in a
manner that must be considered intelligent, that they can learn by
experience and that they possess memory. Lubbock goes so far as to
conclude the account of his experiments with the remark that "It is
difficult altogether to deny them the gift of reason ... their mental
powers differ from those of men, not so much in kind as in degree."
Wasmann considers that ants are neither miniature human beings nor mere
reflex automata, and most students of their habits will probably accept
this intermediate position as the most satisfactory. C.L. Morgan sums up
a discussion on Lubbock's experiments in which the ants failed to
utilize particles of earth for bridge-making, with the suggestive remark
that "What these valuable experiments seem to show is that the ant,
probably the most intelligent of all insects, has no claim to be
regarded as a rational being." Nevertheless, ants can teach "rational
beings" many valuable lessons.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The literature on ants is so vast that it is only
possible to refer the reader to a few of the most important works on
the family. Pierre Huber's _Traite des moeurs des fourmis indigenes_
(Geneve, 1810) is the most famous of the older memoirs. H.W. Bates, _A
Naturalist on the Amazons_; T. Belt, _A Naturalist in Nicaragua_; H.C.
McCook, _Agricultural Ant of Texas_ (Philadelphia, 1880); and A.
Moller's paper in _Botan. Mitt, aus den Tropen_, (1893), contain
classical observations on American species. Sir J. Lubbock's (Lord
Avebury) _Ants, Bees and Wasps_ (London 1882), dealing with British
and European species, has been followed by numerous important papers
by A. Forel and C. Emery in various Swiss and German periodicals, and
especially by C. Janet in his _Etudes sur les fourmis, les guepes et
les abeilles_ (Paris, &c., 1893-1904). Forel (_Ann. Soc. Ent. Belg._
xlvii., 1893, _Journ. Bomnay N.H. Soc._ 1900-1903, and _Biologia Cent.
Americana_) and Emery (_Zool. Jahrb. Syst._ viii., 1896) have written
on the classification of the _Formicidae_. Among recent American
writers on habit may be mentioned W.M. Wheeler (_American Naturalist_,
1900-1902) and A.M. Fielde (_Proc. Acad. Sci. Philadelphia_, 1901); E.
Wasmann (_Kritisches Verzeichni