THE EVOLUTION OF ANTS
derives a certain protection from living near its neighbors. A careful study of these habits of ants has shown that they can be explained only as the results of a gradual and complicated evolution. This form of evolution has led to a peculiar degeneration of some parasitic species,
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which have, in fact, become abjectly dependent on the host for food, for the care of the brood, and for the construction of the nest, and some ants have even lost completely their worker caste. The strong conviction of naturalists that such parasites have been evolved from once independent organisms instead of having been created in their present dependent and degenerate form should be carefully weighed by all those who are busily attacking evolution in the name of religion and morality. That the activities of ants in response to particular environments have led to the development of highly specialized habits is shown also by many interesting examples of “convergent” or “parallel” evolution in species that are not closely related. One striking example is furnished by the tropical ants that inhabit silken nests on trees. These nests are really constructed by the young larvae, which their worker
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