132 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTSi 



for carrying the masses of pollen : of the auricle and 

 pecten which enable the workers to use these tibiae a? 

 pincers ^ ; of the brush that lines the inside of their 

 plantae ? Can they lengthen its abdomen ; alter its 

 colour and clothing; give a curve to its sting; de- 

 prive it of its Avax- pockets, and of the vessels for se- 

 creting that substance ; and render its ovaries more 

 conspicuous, and capable of yielding female as well 

 as male eggs ? Can, in the next place, the seeming- 

 ly trivial circumstances just enumerated altogether 

 alter the instinct of these creatures ? Can they give 

 to one description of animals address and industry : 

 and to the other astonishing fecundity ? Can we con- 

 ceive them to change the very passions, tempers, and 

 manners ? That the very same foetus, if fed with more 

 pungent food, in a higher temperature and in a verti- 

 cal position, shall become a female destined to enjoy 

 love, to burn with jealousy and anger, to be incited 

 to vengeance, and to pass her time without labour — 

 that this very same foetus, if fed with more simple food, 

 in a lower temperature, in a more confined and hori- 

 zontal habitation, shall come forth a worker zealous 

 for the good of the community, a defender of the public 

 rights, enjoying an immunity from the stimulus of 

 sexual appetite and the pains of parturition — labo- 

 rious, industrious, patient, ingenious, skilful — inccB- 

 santly engaged in the nurture of the young ; in col- 

 lecting honey and pollen ; in elaborating wax ; in con- 

 structing cells, and the like ! Paying the most respect- 

 ful and assiduous attention to objects which, had its 

 ovaries been developed, it would have hated, and pur- 



» Hubcr, t. 4. f. 4—6. 



