posited and develop normally^ 

 though always or nearly always 

 into male ants, because they are 

 not fertilized. Thus the joys- 

 of maternity may fall to the 

 lot of the worker, though less 

 abundantly and less frequently 

 than to that of the queen. 



The founding of the colony 

 as described in the foregoing" 

 paragraphs is typical of the 

 great majority of ants, but there 

 are several other methods, 

 which may be briefly consid- 

 ered, since they still further ac- 

 centuate the remarkable fond- 

 ness of these insects for their 

 brood. These methods are de- 

 termined by the different en- 

 dowment with which the queen 

 ants of different species leave 

 the maternal nest. 



In most species, as already 

 described, the recently fecun- 

 dated queen possesses a large 

 fat body and a mass of wing 

 muscles, which can be con- 

 verted into food for the eggs, 

 and a complicated instinct en- 

 dowment, which enables her to 

 found a nest and bring up a 

 first brood of young without 

 the aid of workers. There are 

 queens, however, even better 

 and some that are much more 

 poorly endowed. 



THE FAMILY STOMACH OR REPLKTES OF THF HONFY ANT OF THF GARDEN OF THE: 



GODS {M yrnieco cystus hortideorum) 



a shows the insects as seen from above; h in profile. In both the segments- of the -abdo- 

 men are widely separated by the thin intersegmental membrane, which is great'y stretched hy 

 the distended crop, or social stomach. (Author's illustration.) (See text, page 736.) 



748 



