140  FECUNDATION OF ANTS. 
We see by these details of the con- 
duct of the workers in regard to females, 
that if they have deprived them of their 
liberty, and their wings, it is with no 
other view than that of insuring the po- 
pulation of the ant-hill, and that the con- 
dition to which nature destines them 
yields, in no respect, to that of queen 
bees. * 
Nature has provided, then, in two ways 
for the preservation of the several species 
of ants; by allowing females to quit the 
place of their birth to form in all places 
numerous establishments; and permitting 
the labourers, in these communities, to 
retain some females, to be assured of the 
continuance of each society. ‘The com- 
munities of wasps and humble-bees, on 
the contrary, are dissolved every year, 
* The attachment of the labourers to the females 
would appear to extend even beyond the existence 
of the latter; for, when a pregnant female dies, five 
or six labourers rest near her, and, during several 
days, brush and lick her continually, either in token 
of lasting affection, or that by these means they 
hope to reanimate her. — A. 
