ANNULOSA : INSECTA. 289 



we have societies essentially the same as in the Honey-bee. 

 In a large community of Wasps, or " vespiary," there may be 

 several hundred females, of which few survive the winter, and 

 live to found fresh colonies next spring. The number of males 

 is about equal to that of the females, but, unlike the drones of 

 the Bees, the males work actively and defend the nest. As 

 amongst the Bees, solitary species are not uncommon. 



The Ants (Formicidce) likewise form communities, consisting 

 of males, females, and neuters (fig. 117). The males and 

 females, as we have seen in the case of the Termites, are 

 winged, and are produced in great numbers at a particular 

 period of the year. They then quit the nest and pair, after 

 which the males die. The females then lose their wings and 

 fall to the ground, when they become the queens of fresh 

 societies. In some Ants, as in the Termites, the neuters are 



Fig. 117. Red Ant (Myrmica ntfa\. a Winged male ; b Wingless neuter. 

 Much magnified. 



divided into two classes the workers and the soldiers of 

 which the former perform all the duties necessary for the pre- 

 servation of the society except defending the nest, this being 

 left to the soldiers. In other cases, as many as three distinct 

 orders or " castes " of neuters may be present in the same 

 nest. 



Amongst the more singular of the habits and instincts of 

 Ants two may be mentioned the instinct of making slaves, 

 and that of milking, so to speak, the little Plant-lice (Aphides}. 

 As regards the first of these, it is found that certain Ants pos- 

 sess the extraordinary instinct of capturing the pupae of other 

 species of Ants, and bringing them up as slaves. The rela- 

 tions between the master and the slaves vary a good deal in 

 different species. In the case of Formica rufescens, for instance, 

 the masters are entirely dependent upon their slaves ; the 

 males and females do nothing except reproducing the species, 

 and the neuters perform no other labour except that of captur- 



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