ORIGIN OF QUEENS. 4] 
bees, and in another in that of ants. It is also a strong 
argument that in none of my nests, though thousands 
of workers and males have been produced, have I ever 
observed a queen to be so until this year. On the 
whole, then, though I differ from so excellent a naturalist 
with much hesitation, I cannot but think that ants, 
like bees, possess the power of developing a given egg 
into either a queen or a worker. a 
I have already mentioned that the previous views 
as to the duration of life of ants turn out to be quite 
erroneous. It was the general opinion that they lived 
for a single year. I have, however, now in my posses- 
sion two queens, which I have had under observation 
ever since the year 1874. They must now (December 
1881) therefore be more than seven, and are probably 
more than eight years old. They seem in perfect 
health, and in 1881 laid fertile eggs, a fact which 
suggests physiological conclusions of great interest. 
I have, moreover, little doubt that some of the 
workers now in this nest were among those originally 
captured, the mortality after the first few weeks having 
been but small. This, however, I cannot prove. 
A nest of F. sanguinea, which M. Forel kindly 
forwarded to me on September 12, 1875 (but which 
contained no queen), gradually diminished in numbers, 
until in February 1879 it was reduced to two F. san- 
guineas and one slave. The latter died in February 
1880. One of the two mistresses died between May 
10 and May 16, 1880, and the other only survived her 
