174 SIR J. LUBBOCK ON ANTS, BEES, AST) WASPS. 



interest that I have carefully watched my nests this year also, to 

 see what further light they would throw on the subject. 



In six of those which contained no queen, eggs were produced, 

 which of course must necessarily have been laid by workers. 



The first of these, a nest of Lasius niger, which I have watched 

 since July 1875, and which, therefore, is interesting from the great 

 age of the workers, about ten larvae were hatched, but only four 

 reached the pupa state. Of these one disappeared ; the other 

 three I secured, and on examination they all proved to be males. 



A second nest of Lasius niger, which has been under observa- 

 tion since November 1875, produced about ten pupae. Of these 

 I examined seven, all of which I found to be males. The others 

 escaped me. I believe that, having died, they were brought out 

 and thrown away. 



A nest of Formica cinerea, captured at the same time, produced 

 four larvae, all of which perished before arriving at the pupa stage. 

 They were certainly not workers. 



In a nest of Formica fusca which I have had under observation 

 since Aug. 1876, three pupae were produced. They were all 

 males. 



Another nest of Formica fusca produced a single young one, 

 which also was a male. 



Lastly, my nest of Polyergus rufescens, which M. Eorel was so 

 good as to send me in the spring of 1876, and to which I have 

 already frequently referred in these papers, produced twelve pupa?. 

 Eleven of these turned out to be males. The other one I lost ; 

 but I have little doubt it was brought out and thrown away. 

 At any rate it was not a worker. As regards the first three of 

 these pupae, I omitted to record whether they belonged to the 

 Polyergus or to the slaves. The last eight were males of Polyergus. 



Thus, then, this year again, in five of my queenless nests, males 

 have been produced ; and in not a single case has a worker laid 

 eggs which have produced a female, either a queen or a worker. 

 Perhaps I ought to add that workers are abundantly produced in 

 those of my nests which possess a queen. 



Again, as in previous years, so this season again, while great 

 numbers of workers and males have come to maturity in my nests, 

 not a single queen has been produced. "We have, I think, there- 

 fore, strong reason for concluding that, as in the case of bees, so 

 also in ants, some special food is required to develop the female 

 embryo into a queen. 



