TENACITY OF LIFE IN ANTS. 309 



majors, minors and minims, were segregated by me in August, 

 1901, and were kept under observation until August, 1904. At 

 the end of the three years there were eleven survivors, and ten of 

 these were of the largest stature attained by these ants, seven 

 millimeters. Queens, whose longevity probably exceeds that of 

 workers, are ordinarily of larger stature than they. 



It has long been known that the size of an ant depends on the 

 quantity and quality of nutriment taken while in the larval stage ; 

 but larval nutrition determines not only the size of the ant within 

 the limits of its species ; it also determines something of greater 

 influence in the life of the individual and the persistence of the 

 tribe, the probabilities of survival under adverse conditions. 



