SIB J. LUBBOCK ON ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS, 175 



Longevity of Ants. 



In my previous paper I have called attention to the considerable 

 age attained by my ants, and I may perhaps be permitted to 

 repeat here, mutatis mutandis, a paragraph from my last commu- 

 nication with reference to my most aged specimens, most of 

 those mentioned last year being still alive. One of my nests of 

 Formica fusca was brought from the woods in December 1874, 

 It then contained two queens, both of which are now still alive*. 

 I have little doubt that some of the workers now in the nest were 

 among those originally captured, the mortality after the first few 

 weeks having been but small. This, however, I cannot prove. 

 The queens, however, are certainlv six, and probably seven years 

 old. 



In the following nests — viz. another nest of F. fusca, which I 

 brought in on the 6th June, 1875, one of Lasius niger on the 25th 

 July, 1875, and of Formica cinerea on the 29th November, 1875 — 

 there were no queens ; and, as already mentioned, no workers 

 have been produced. Those now living are therefore the original 

 ones, and they must be between five and six years old. 



Though I lose many ants from accidents, especially in summer, 

 in winter there are very few deaths. 



The nest of F. sanguinea, which M. Forel kindly forwarded to 

 me on the 12th Sept., 1875 (but which contained no queen), gra* 

 dually diminished in numbers, until in Feb. 1879 it was reduced 

 to two F. sanguinea and one slave. The latter died in Feb. 1880. 

 One of the two mistresses died between the 10th and 16th May, 

 1880, and the other only survived her a few days, dying between 

 the 16th and 20th. These two ants, therefore, must have been 

 five years old at least. It is certainly curious that they should, 

 after living so long, have died within ten days of one another, 

 There was nothing, as far as I could see, in the state of the nest 

 or the weather to account for this, and they were well supplied 

 with food, yet I hardly venture to suggest that the survivor pined 

 away for the loss of her companion. 



Behaviour to strange Queens. 



In a previous paper I have shown that, at least in the case of 



Myrmica rwjinodis, the queen is capable of bringing larvae to 



maturity, and consequently of founding a new nest by herself. 



Since, however, cases are on record in which communities are 



* Aug. 3rd, 1880. They are still alive, 



