ORIGIN OF THE SILVER EEL. 41 



In spring, when the queen commences to 

 prepare a new hive, she has three different 

 varieties of sex in her male, female, and 

 neuter. Here a marked parallelism between 

 the bee and the beetle subsists : for like it 

 the beetle has its male, female, and neuter; 

 and it is just as great a mystery that the 

 queen of the common bees should produce 

 a male, female, and neuter, as that the beetle 

 should do so. It may further be remarked, 

 that although the working bee, from natural 

 causes, is unable to assist in the direct pro- 

 pagation of the species, yet nevertheless by 

 its determined energy, strength of muscle, 

 and large wing, it overcomes every obstacle 

 in the collecting of honey for the support of 

 itself and others, as also pollen for the 

 young. In a similar way, the neuter silver 

 eels, by acting as the alimentary canals of 

 the beetle, take in what food the insect pro- 

 vides for supplying nutriment to themselves 

 and the beetle forms. There is something 

 singular in these two neuters. The beetle 

 gives out a species of food which is prized 

 by thousands as the most dainty dish of the 

 fish tribe, and is always in season, not 



