608 SIE JOHN LrBBOCK OS ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS. 



habitually lay eggs, and explains the difference which on this view 

 exists between the workers of ants and those of bees, on the 

 ground that (as he supposes) the majority of ants die in the 

 autumn, so that the eggs laid by the queens alone would not be 

 sufficient to stock the nest in the spring ; while among bees the 

 majority survive the winter, and consequently the eggs laid by 

 the queen are sufficient to maintain the numbers of the com- 

 munity. In reply to this argument, it may be observed that 

 among wasps the workers all perish in the autumn, while, on the 

 contrary, among ants I have proved that, at least as regards many 

 species, this is not the case. Moreover, although eggs are fre- 

 quently laid by workers, this is not so often the case as Dewitz 

 appears to suppose. Porel appears to have only observed it in 

 one or two cases. In my nests the instances were more nume- 

 rous ; and, indeed, I should say that in most nests there were a 

 few fertile workers. 



Among bees and wasps also the workers are occasionally 

 fertile ; but, so far as our observations go, it is a curious fact that 

 their eggs never produce females, either queens or workers, but 

 always males. The four or five specimens bred by Porel from the 

 eggs of workers were, moreover, all males. 



It would therefore be interesting to know whether the same 

 is the case generally among ants ; and my nests have supplied me 

 with some facts bearing on the question. Most of my nests con- 

 tained queens ; and in these it would be impossible, or at least 

 very difficult, to distinguish and follow the comparatively few 

 eggs laid by the workers. Some of my nests, however, contained 

 no queen ; and in them therefore all the eggs must have been laid 

 by workers. 



One of these was a nest of Formica cinerea, which I brought 

 back from Castellamare in November 1875. At that time it con- 

 tained no eggs or larvas. In 1876 a few eggs were laid, of which 

 fifteen came to maturity, and were, I believe, all males. Last year 

 there were fourteen pupae, of which twelve came to maturity and 

 were all males. 



Again, in a nest of Lasius niger, kept in captivity since June 

 1875, there were in 1876 about 100 young; and these were, 

 as far as I could ascertain, all males. At any rate there were 

 about 100 males, and I could not find a single young female. In 

 1877 there were again some pupse ; but none of them came to 

 maturity. Last year fifteen have come to maturity ; and fourteen 



