450 INSECTS. 



working bees ; that is, they arc females in whom the generative 

 organs are not developed, and who of course are barren. In each 

 hive of bees, however, there is but one queen ; whereas a great 

 number of queens, or female ants, are met with, living in the ut- 

 most harmony in the same nest. It appears, that any of the larves 

 of the labouring class of bees may be raised to the rank of queen ; 

 that is, may acquire a development of organs by a particular mode 

 of feeding. Whether the same circumstance obtains, with respect 

 to the female ant, has not yet been ascertained, and is a question 

 which Mr. Huber's future researches will probably enable him to 

 determine. The various toils which contribute to the welfare of 

 the republic are confided, in both communities, to the labourers, 

 who act as the architects of the city, as the soldiers of the garrison, 

 and as the nurses and guardians of the rising generation ; while the 

 other classes have no other duties to perform than those of furnish, 

 ing recruits to the colony. 



The different species of ants, like the nations of our own species, 

 are distinguished from each other by great diversities of manners. 

 This is strikingly shown in the variety of modes in which they con- 

 struct their habitations. Some employ merely earth as the mate- 

 rial ; some collect for the same purpose fragments of leaves, of 

 bark, or of straw ; others use nothing but finely pulverised portions 

 of decayed wood. The solid substance of trees is excavated by 

 another species into numerous apartments, having regular commu- 

 nications with one another. Various other modifications may be 

 observed in the architecture of the different species. The most 

 perfect specimens of workmanship are generally exhibited by the 

 smaller ants. The brown ant Cfourmi brune) is particularly re- 

 markable among the masonic tribes. Their nests are formed of 

 parallel or concentric stories, each four or five lines in height ; 

 the partitions being about half a line in thickness, and built of such 

 fine material that the interior appears perfectly smooth. On ex- 

 amining each of these stories, we discover chambers of different 

 sizes, having long galleries of communication. The ceilings of the 

 larger spaces are supported by small pillars, sometimes by slender 

 walls, and in other cases by arches. Some cells have but a single 

 entrance ; others have passages, which open from the story un- 

 derneath. In other parts, still larger central spaces, or halls, are 

 met with, in which a great number of passages terminate, like the 



