300 AMAZON ANTS. 
another example of those transitions we 
have remarked between the females and 
labourers of some insects .of the same 
genus. Among bees there are. several 
modifications of queens; there exist, also, 
among humble. bees fecund labourers. of 
different degrees of size, resembling, in 
almost every respect, females. . ‘This fact 
comes in support of those already given, 
and must convince us, that females. and 
labourers are originally of the same order, 
and do not owe their form and real cha- 
racter, but to the more or less complete 
developement of their organs. . 1 know 
not if the individuals, of which I have 
just spoken, are capable of laying, nor 
can I state the purport of their creation ; 
be this as it may, they are extremely rare, 
and have no relation with the Ash-co- 
loured and Mining Ants, in mixed ant- 
hills, where we equally find them. 
Let us now return to the winged fe- 
males. A little time after quitting their 
natal abode, they lose their wings like the 
ants of other species, traverse the ground, 
