BOMB US R UDERA TUS 1 7 7 



49 black workers, and the old queen was of the 

 obscurely-banded variety. In June 191 1 I took a 

 nest in which the old queen was entirely black, and 

 kept it under observation. All the workers pro- 

 duced were of the banded variety, and all the first 

 males produced were black ; but later some males 

 of the yellow variety appeared these were prob- 

 ably the young of the workers. On July 17, 191 1, 

 I took a nest in which the old queen was of the 

 lightest variety ; it contained $3 workers and 3 

 males, all banded. 



In a strong nest found by Mr. Hamm near 

 Dorchester, Oxon, in 191 1, all the individuals were 

 black. 



It is probable that the proportion of banded to 

 black individuals produced by each queen follows 

 Mendel's Law. It is very remarkable that the 

 workers and males should be sharply dimorphic, 

 while the queens show every degree of variation. 

 The black variety is said not to occur on the 

 Continent. 



In the north of Italy and eastwards into Styria 

 a remarkable variety of ruderatus, named argillaceus, 

 exists. In the queen of this variety the yellow 

 bands on the front and back of the thorax are very 

 wide, the abdomen is entirely black, and the wings 

 are dark brown ; but the workers and males are 

 coloured like the ordinary banded variety. Hoffer 

 says that argillaceus, with tei'restris, has the largest 

 number of individuals in the nests. A beautiful 

 nest brought to him by his brother in the year 1881 



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