PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 57 



This homage paid by the workers to their queens, ac- 

 cording to Gould, is temporary and local ; when she 

 has laid eggs in any cell, their attentions, he observed, 

 seemed to relax, and she became unsettled and uneasy. 

 In the summer months she is to be met with in various 

 apartments in the colony ; and eggs also are to be seen 

 in several places, which induced him to believe that, 

 having deposited a parcel in one, she retires to another 

 for the same purpose, thus frequently changing her situ- 

 ation and attendants. As there are always a number of 

 lodgements void of eggs but full of ants, she is never at 

 a loss for an agreeable station and submissive retinue : 

 and by the time she has gone her rounds in this manner, 

 the eggs first laid are brought to perfection, and her old 

 attendants are glad to receive her again. Yet this inat- 

 tention after oviposition is not invariable ; the female and 

 neuters sometimes unite together in the same cell after 

 the eggs are laid. On this occasion the workers divide 

 their attention; and if you disturb them, some will run 

 to the defence of their queen, as well as of the eggs, 

 which last, however, are the great objects of their solici- 

 tude. This statement differs somewhat from M. Hu- 

 ber's ; but different species vary in their instincts, which 

 will account for this and similar dissonances in authors 

 who have observed their proceedings. Mr. Gould also 

 noticed but very few females in ant-nests, sometimes only 

 one ; but M. Huber, who had better opportunities, found 

 several, which he says live very peaceably together, show- 

 ing none of that spirit of rivalry so remarkable in the 

 queen bee. 



And here I must close my narrative of the life and ad- 

 ventures of male and female ants; but, as it will be fol- 



