162 Chapter IV. 



zoids. 1 It is best, therefore, to suspend our judgment 

 on this problem, until it is definitely solved. 



If the new theory of the fertilization of all the eggs 

 in a bee-hive, under normal conditions, should prove 

 true, it ought to be extended also to the ants. Hence, 

 in ant-colonies, too, it would be the workers, who by 

 their nursing instincts determine, whether a given ant- 

 egg is to produce a worker, a winged female, a soldier, 

 or a male. 



We intend here, however, to consider only the 

 wonderful influence exercised by nursing on the dif- 

 ferentiation between females and workers. This is an 

 established fact, quite independent of the new theory. 

 Why is it that one and the same kind of egg now 

 produces a queen with complete power of generation, 

 now a worker devoid of generating powers, but com- 

 pensated, as it were, for this loss by psychic endow- 

 ments all the more perfect? Here we enter a mys- 

 terious region, where the breeding instincts of social 

 insects reign supreme, an instinct which for its creative 

 power is unparalleled in the entire animal kingdom. 



It is a well-known fact, that with honey-bees a 

 worker larva can be developed into a queen by increas- 



!) W. Paulke, in "Anatomischer Anzeiger," Vol. XVI, 1899; A. 

 Petrunkewitsch, "Die Richtungskorper und ib.r Schicksal im befruchteten 

 und unbefruchteten Bienenei," ("Zool. Jahrbuecher," Abtl. fuer 

 Anatomic, Vol. XIV, 1901); Aug. Weismann, "Ueber die Partheno- 

 genese der Bienen" ("Anatom. Anzeiger," Vol. XVIII, 1901, Nos. 20-21); 

 H. v. Buttel-Reepen, "Ueber die Dzierzon'sche Theorie" ("Bienen- 

 wirtschftl. Centralbl.," 1901, No. 1); "Der Abschluss der Freiburger 

 Eiuntersuchungen" (Ibid., 1901, No. 19); "Die Parthenogenesis bei 

 der Honigbiene" ("Natur und Schule," Vol.1, 1902, 4th issue); P. 

 Bachmetiew, "Ein Versuch, die Frage ueber die Parthenogenese der 

 Drohnen zu loesen" ("Allgem. Zeitschr. f. Entom.," 1903, Nos. 2-3). 



