24 BRITISH ANTS. 



it has been found present in individual specimens of many species. 

 Copulation between males and workers has not been observed, 

 though the former may sometimes be seen to endeavour to embrace 

 the latter. Eggs laid by workers in captivity have frequently been 

 observed to produce males, and indeed it was formerly supposed 

 that only males were developed from such eggs, but more recently 

 a number of well-authenticated cases have been recorded in which 

 workers have developed from eggs laid by the latter. 



The reproductive organs in the male ant consist of the testes, 

 vasa deferentia, seminal vesicles, and ejaculatory duct. Each testis 

 is formed of a number of bodies which are found in a similar position 

 in the gaster to that of the ovaries of the female, and are filled with 



Testis 

 Spermatozoa 



Vesicle 



Fig. 41. Reproductive organs of Myrmica rubra $. (Janet.) 



spermatozoa. The number of bodies to each testis varies in different 

 species in Anergates atratulus there are 3, Myrmica species 4, 

 Formica sanguinea 21, etc. The vasa deferentia, or deferent ducts, 

 are long tubes which proceed from the bodies of the testes, and at 

 their posterior ends are enlarged to form a pair of sacs, the seminal 

 vesicles. These are united to form a narrow ejaculatory duct, 

 which has its opening at the base of the penis. 



The Circulatory, Respiratory, Muscular and Nervous Systems 

 are beyond the scope of this work, and can only be very briefly 

 discussed. For further details the reader is referred to the works 

 of Berlese, Child, Dujardin, Forel, Hicks, Janet, Johnston, Lub- 

 bock, Nassonow, Rabal-Ruckard, Wheeler, etc. etc. 



The Circulatory System. The blood, a colourless liquid, is circu- 

 lated through the body by the contraction and dilatation of the 

 heart, which consists of a tube situated in the mid-dorsal region of 

 the gaster. 



