416 AKTS AND SEEDS 



lived, however, until August 8, 1888, when she must 

 have been nearly fifteen years old, and is, therefore, by 

 far the oldest insect on record. 



Moreover, what is very extraordinary, she continued 

 to lay fertile eggs. Fertilisation took place in 1874 

 at the latest. There has been no male in the nest 

 since then, and, moreover, it is, I believe, well estab- 

 lished that queen ants and queen bees are fertilised 

 once for all. The continued fertility of this queen ant 

 is therefore most remarkable, and very interesting 

 from a physiological point of view. 



In some plants (Rues) the pollen-tube takes as long 

 as two years to reach the ovule. Indeed the pollen 

 has some claims to be regarded as a separate organism, 

 for it certainly possesses the power of growth and of 

 assimilating nourishment. There is not, however, so 

 far as I am aware, any other case which can compare 

 with this of my queen ant. 



Moreover the case is not altogether isolated. I had 

 another queen of Formica fusca which lived to be 

 thirteen years old, and I have now a queen of L^siua 

 niger which is more than nine years old, and still lays 

 fertile eggs which produce female ants. 



Ants and Seeds of Melampyrum pratense. 



M. Liindstrom has recently called attention to the 

 interesting fact that the seeds of this plant closely 

 resemble pupae of ants in size, shape, and colour, even 

 to the black mark at one end. He has suggested, very 

 ingeniously, that this may be an advantage to the plant 

 by deceiving the ants, and thus inducing them to carry 

 oif and so disseminate the seeds. There seemed, how- 

 ever, some improbability in the idea that ants should 

 be deceived as to their own sisters. M. Liindstrom has 

 found seeds of this species in ants' nests, but has not 



