250 MANUAL OF ZOOLOGY. 



to give origin to neuters, to which end they are placed in the 

 ordinary cells. The ova which are to give origin to females 

 the " queens" of future colonies are placed in cells of a 

 peculiar construction, and the larvae are fed by the workers 

 with a special food. The ova which are to produce males 

 are likewise placed in cells, which are slightly larger than those 

 allotted to the workers. It is asserted, however, that this is 

 not the sole or true cause of the production of the males ; but 

 that the ova which are intended to produce drones are not fer- 

 tilised by the female with the semen which she has stored up 

 in her spermatheca, and are therefore produced by a process 

 of Parthenogenesis. That the males are produced partheno- 

 genetically in some, at any rate, of the Hymenoptera, appears to 

 have been placed beyond a reasonable doubt by the researches 

 by Von Siebold. (See Introduction.) 



In the Humble-bees (Bombida), and in the Wasps (Ves- 

 pid<z\ we have societies essentially the same as in the Honey- 

 bee. 



The Ants (Formicidce) likewise form communities, consisting 

 of males, females, and neuters. 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 divided into two classes the 

 workers and the soldiers of which the former perform all the 

 duties necessary for the preservation of the society except de- 

 fending 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 

 possess the extraordinary instinct of capturing the pupae of 

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

 relations between the masters and the slaves vary a good deal 

 in different species. In the case of Formica rufescens, for in- 

 stance, 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 capturing fresh slaves. The masters are in this case un- 

 able even to feed themselves, and their existence is main- 

 tained entirely by the devotion of the slaves. In Formica san- 



