ANT COMMUNITIES 



distinct in the radical function of propagating and thus 

 perpetuating the species. 



If one should seek some directing or governing per- 

 sonal power of that system by which the complex and 

 varied results which these studies note are wrought out 

 with almost unbroken unison among hundreds of thou- 

 sands, even millions, of individuals, he would find his 

 research thwarted at every point. There is a smack of 

 royal authority in the title " queen 7 given the ant in 

 whom is concentrated the function of maternity for 

 renewing the life of the whole community. But in this 

 sense the word is figurative, for queenhood means sim- 

 ply motherhood. Beyond the brief initial period of a 

 formicary, when the solitary female in her circular cell 

 has unlimited power over her scant domain, and in her 

 single person represents the norm of all reproductive, 

 nutritive, constructive and administrative forces, an ant 

 queen has not a shadow of that function of rulership which 

 the words "queen" and "king" express in human relations. 



From the moment that she has raised around her a 

 band of workers strong enough to take up the labors of 

 the growing society, she becomes merely an immense 

 vital organ for producing eggs. She does not even care 

 for these, as she did with the first few laid; for they are 

 whisked away by attendant workers the instant they 

 leave her body, and thenceforth are the common charge 

 of the colony. A girdling corps of courtiers attends 

 her day and night, whose members care for her personal 

 wants, restrain her movements within safe limits, and 

 collect and distribute to the nurses the precious atoms 

 of life upon which her importance depends. But no 

 breathing of rulership or authority or governing in- 

 fluence of any sort issues directly from her. 



300 



