Insects : their life-histories and habits . thering (he writes) has always been a stock subjectfor wonder, and it is commonly supposed that she is bornwith full instinctive capabilities for her task. A littleobservation, however, soon tends to upset this work of foraging has to be learnt step by step, likeevery other species of skilled work in hive-life. Theyoung bee, setting out on her first flight, has all thewill to do well, and her imitative faculty is stronglydeveloped; but she seems to have very little else. Herfirst experiences are a succession of blunders. She appearsnot to
Insects : their life-histories and habits . thering (he writes) has always been a stock subjectfor wonder, and it is commonly supposed that she is bornwith full instinctive capabilities for her task. A littleobservation, however, soon tends to upset this work of foraging has to be learnt step by step, likeevery other species of skilled work in hive-life. Theyoung bee, setting out on her first flight, has all thewill to do well, and her imitative faculty is stronglydeveloped; but she seems to have very little else. Herfirst experiences are a succession of blunders. She appearsnot to know for certain where to look for the covetedsweets, and can be seen industriously searching the mostunlikely places—crevices in walls, tufts of grass, or theleaves of a plant instead of its flowers. The fact that thenectar is hidden deep down in the cup of the flower,beyond its pollen-bearing mechanism, seems to dawnupon her only after much thought and many fruitlessessays. To sum up then, we may say that the behaviour of Plate X V I I. Protective Resemblance: Catocala sponsa with wings expanded, and in resting attitude on oak bark. Britain # THE BEHAVIOUR OF INSECTS 127 insects is derived from simple reflex acts in which con-sciousness plays no part. These constitute the rawmaterial, so to speak, from which more elaborate com-binations, called instincts, have been built up through theagency of natural selection, and transmitted as a kind ofself-acting nervous mechanism from one generation toanother. Broadly speaking, instincts are unaccommodating,being performed in the same way by every memberof the species without regard to circumstances. But inall insects, especially in the higher forms, there is atendency for instinct to be replaced by the fruit ofindividual experience— by memory. Thus, whileinstinct undoubtedly dominates the behaviour of insects,it fails to account for every detail. In some of theiractions insects display a measure of intelligence. Beyondthis we
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectinsects, bookyear1913
