FORMICIDAE ANTS 135 



pupal life a metamorphosis into the perfect Insect occurs. The 

 creatures then disclosed may be either winged or wingless ; the 

 wingless are the workers and soldiers imperfect females the 

 winged are males or females fully developed. The workers re- 

 main in or near the nest they were produced in, but the winged 

 individuals rise into the air for a nuptial flight, often in great 

 numbers, and couple. When this is accomplished the male 

 speedily dies, but the females cast their wings and are ready to 

 enter on a long life devoted to the production of eggs. From 

 this account it will be gathered that males are only found in 

 the nests for a very short time ; the great communities consist- 

 ing at other periods entirely of the two kinds of females and of 

 young. The imperfect females are themselves in some species 

 of various kinds ; each kind being restricted, more or less com- 

 pletely, to a distinct kind of duty. 



No Insects are more familiar to us than ants ; in warm 

 countries some of them even invade the habitations of man, or 

 establish their communities in immediate proximity to his 

 dwellings. Their industry and pertinacity have, even in remote 

 ages, attracted the attention and admiration of serious men ; some 

 of whom we need scarcely mention Solomon as amongst them 

 have not hesitated to point out these little creatures as worthy 

 of imitation by that most self-complacent of all the species of 

 animals, Homo sapiens. 



Observation has revealed most remarkable phenomena 

 in the lives of these Insects. Indeed, we can scarcely avoid 

 the conclusion that they have acquired in many respects 

 the art of living together in societies more perfectly than 

 our own species has, and that they have anticipated us in the 

 acquisition of some of the industries and arts that greatly 

 facilitate social life. The lives of individual ants extend over a 

 considerable number of years in the case of certain species at 

 any rate so that the competence of the individual may be 

 developed to a considerable extent by exercise ; and one genera- 

 tion may communicate to a younger one by example the arts 

 of living by which it has itself profited. The prolonged life of 

 ants, their existence in the perfect state at all seasons, and the 

 highly social life they lead are facts of the greatest biological 

 importance, and are those that we should expect to be accom- 

 panied by greater and wider competence than is usually exhibited 



