PAIRING OF ANTS. 249 



sixteen hours later than the two former ones. She 

 appeared in excellent condition, and had not appa- 

 rently suffered by the delay. Scarcely had she 

 touched the ground, than she hastened to get rid of 

 her wings in the same manner as the others had 

 done. In fine, I repeated the like experiments on 

 several females, of different species, and always ob- 

 tained the same result.'* 



Had this extraordinary fact rested on the single 

 authority of Huber, we might have been disposed to 

 think he had permitted his fancy to aid his observa- 

 tion. But several of the circumstances, as we have 

 already noticed, had been observed by Linnaeus, De 

 Geer, and particularly by Gould, with whose accurate 

 account of English ants Huber does not seem to be ac- 

 quainted. Gould terms the winged females, ant flies, 

 and goes on to state, — ' If you strip a large ant-fly of 

 its wings, when a week old or more, which is very 

 easily done, for they will come off by the most gentle 

 touch imaginable, and then place it in a microscope 

 with a queen (meaning a wingless female), you will 

 perceive no manner of difference as to their frame ; 

 the like indented places or little hollows in the breast, 

 where the wings commonly lie, will be found in each ; 

 whence there is great reason to believe, the queen 

 was originally adorned with such gaiety, and ap- 

 peared in the character of a fly. It is also observable, 

 as a strong confirmation of this sentiment, that abun- 

 dance of the large ant-flies, just before or after leaving 

 the colonies, actually drop their luin^s^ and, except 

 a small difference in complexion, which has not 

 attained its true gloss, are not to be distinguished 

 from the queens. You may, in the latter end of July 

 and great part of August, often meet with unwinged 

 ants travelling about as it were at random. If you 



* Huber on Ants, page 117. 



