CHAPTER XXIII 



THE LIFE-CYCLE OF SOME HYMENOPTEROUS INSECTS 



It has been pointed out that in some cases parthenogenetic 

 generations alternate with sexual ones, the last parthenogenetic 

 generation giving rise both to male and female sexual forms. 

 In other cases, unfertilized eggs may produce only one kind of 

 individual, usually the male, and in a few cases this may be the 

 regular method of production of the male sex. The best-known 

 case of this sort is that of the honey bee. 



The queen bee leaves the hive, a few days after emerging from 

 the royal cell, for her nuptial flight. She is followed by one or 

 more drones, and union takes place in the air. Her receptacle 

 becomes filled with sperm, and this supply lasts her for the rest 

 of her life, that may extend over three or four years. The , 

 spermatozoa must remain alive during all this time, yet the 

 oldest produce the same effect, so far as sex is concerned, as do 

 the youngest. The receptacle, or spermatheca as it is called, 

 opens by a short tube into the oviduct. It has a muscular 

 wall, and a few of the spermatozoa are supposed to be squeezed 

 out as the egg passes the opening — at least in the case of eggs 

 that are to become fertilized. 



A queen may produce half a million eggs in the course of her 

 life, and must receive, therefore, at least as many spermatozoa, 

 and probably more, since it is not improbable that several or 

 many are set free for each egg. The eggs are deposited in the 

 brood cells or chambers of the comb that have been prepared by 

 the workers. The queen thrusts her abdomen to the bottom of 

 each cell, and deposits there an egg, that is attached at the end 

 opposite to the micropyle, or opening through which the sper- 

 matozoon enters. There are three kinds of brood chambers : 



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