350 Evolution and Adaptation 



Mutual Adaptation of Colonial Forms 



In the white ants, true ants, and bees, we find certain in- 

 dividuals of the community specialized in such a way that 

 their modifications stand in certain useful relations to other 

 members of the community. Amongst the bees, the workers 

 collect the food, make the comb, and look after the young. 

 The queen does little more than lay eggs, and the drone's 

 only function is to fertilize the queen. In the true ants there 

 are, besides the workers and the queen and the males, the 

 soldier caste. These have large thick heads and large strong 

 jaws. On the Darwinian theory it is assumed that this caste 

 must have an important role to play, for otherwise their pres- 

 ence as a distinct group of forms cannot be accounted for ; 

 but I do not believe it is necessary to find an excuse for 

 their existence in their supposed utility. From the point of 

 view of the mutation theory, their real value may be very 

 small, but so long as their actual presence is not entirely 

 fatal to the community they may be endured. 



In regard to these forms, Sharp writes: 1 "The soldiers 

 are not alike in any two species of Termitidae, so far as we 

 know, and it seems impossible to ascribe the differences that 

 exist between the soldiers of different species of Termitidae 

 to special adaptations for the work they have to perform." 

 " On the whole, it would be more correct to say that the 

 soldiers are very dissimilar in spite of their having to perform 

 similar work, than to state that they are dissimilar in con- 

 formity with the different tasks they carry on." The sol- 

 diers have the same instincts as the workers, and do the 

 same kinds of things to a certain extent. "The soldiers are 

 not such effective combatants as the workers are." State- 

 ments such as these indicate very strongly that the origin of 

 this caste can have very little to do with its importance as a 

 specialized part of the community. 



1 "The Cambridge Natural History," Vol. V, 1895. 



