114 FECUNDATION OF ANTS. 
the evening ; a period of five hours. But 
during this time nothing was done to 
denote the approaching loss of their 
wings, which remained still firmly af- 
fixed. ‘These females appeared to be in 
excellent condition: they passed their 
feet across their mouths, then glided 
them over the antenne, and rubbed 
the legs one against the other. I could 
not conceive what could retard the fall 
of their wings, whilst the other ants had 
lost them so readily. It is true, that I 
placed those of which I am now speak- 
ing, in a very strong box, completely 
closed, whilst the former were deposited 
in a transparent vault, offering not the 
slightest appearance of a prison, and 
upon a ground more natural than the 
bottom of a sand-box, where there was 
no earth. I had no idea that a circum- 
stance so trifling would have any influ- 
ence upon these ants; however, having 
learned that it was necessary to place them 
as the first, I took some earth, and 
strewed it lightly over the table, and 
