CHAPTER n. 



OK THE FORMATION AND MAINTENANCE OF NESTS, AKD 



ON THE DIVISION OF LABOUR. 



It is remarkable that notwithstanding the researches of 

 BO many excellent observers, and though ants' nests 

 swarm in every field and every wood, we did not know 

 how their nests commence. 



Three principal modes have been suggested. After 

 the marriage-flight the young queen may either— 



1. Join her own or some other old nest ; 



2. Associate herself with a certain number of 

 workers, and with their assistance commence a new 

 nest ; or 



3. Found a new nest by herself. 



The question can of course only be settled by ob- 

 servation, and the experiments made to determine it 

 had hitherto been indecisive. 



Blanchard, indeed, in his work on the ' Metamor- 

 phises of Insects' (I quote from Dr. Duncan's transla- 

 tion, p. 205 ), says : — « Huber observed a solitary female 

 go down into a small under-ground hole, fake off her 

 own wings, and become, as it were, a worker ; then she 

 constructed a small nest, laid a few eggs, and brought 



