114 ASSOCIATION OF ORGANISMS—THE WEB OF LIFE 
cases extreme, while observation seems to elicit contradictory 
facts. About two thousand species are already known, and it is 
pretty certain that the number will reach at least five thousand.” 
The caste-system is well-marked among Ants, and there are 
at least three sorts of individual, males, queens, and workers or 
modified females. The two former are commonly winged, and 
pairing usually takes place in the air. After this has been accom- 
plished the males soon die, while the females cast, or it may be 
bite off, their wings, and enter upon their further duties. In some 
species the male alone possesses wings, while it more rarely 
happens that the contrary is true. Cases are also known where 
both kinds of male exist in the same species, the female being 
winged, or both kinds of female are associated with winged males. 
There may also be distinct castes of workers, one consisting of 
large individuals (workers major), and the other or others of 
small ones (workers minor). In many cases, too, there is a caste 
of “soldiers” distinguished by the great size of their mandibles. 
Like workers they are modified females. To all intents and pur- 
poses, indeed, the societies of Ants, like those of Bees and Wasps, 
are female republics. The “queen”, it is true, has all her wants 
attended to by the workers, but does not actively direct the affairs 
of the community, having no special authority. The care bestowed 
upon her, indeed, would appear to be simply in recognition of the 
fact that she is necessary for the continuance of the society. In 
ant-societies there may be more than one queen. There appears 
to be no doubt that these insects are able to communicate certain 
kinds of information to one another. Indeed, without some power 
of communication there would be endless confusion in a large com- 
munity. As it is, we find that foraging expeditions, warfare, and 
the complex economy of the nest are all carried out in an orderly 
fashion. In human societies even republics require some sort of 
government for the direction of individual efforts, but this often 
appears not to be the case here. The armies of our native species, 
for example, so far as we know, are entirely made up of rank and 
file, without officers and non-commissioned officers. Yet such 
an army often seems to conduct its campaigns strategically, and 
deals very effectively with tactical problems which arise after it 
has taken the field. How this is possible we are not yet able to 
say, for our own mental powers have been evolved on very 
different lines. There is certainly a basis of instinct, z.e. inherited 
