THE RELATION BETWEEN ORGANIC VIGOR AND SEX. 749 
But my purpose in the present paper is especially to call atten- 
‘tion to a few well known facts in the animal kingdom, of a 
character somewhat analogous to those dwelt upon above con- 
cerning plants; which. conspire with these, in suggesting that 
some qualification or addition may be required to the ordinary 
statements concerning the relations between nutrition and repro- 
duction ; or at least as to those between organic vigor and sex. 
Take the instance of the common hive-bee (Apis mellifica). 
According to the observations of Dzierzon, Von Siebold, Leuck- 
art and Tegetmeier upon hive-bees, and of F. W. Putnam, J. 
Wyman and Gerstzcker upon humble-bees, it appears that there 
is a regular gradation in rank, so to speak, of bee offspring, accord- 
ing to the method of their production. First and lowest in the 
hive-bee series are the males or drones. These may be sometimes 
produced by an unfertilized working bee; commonly, by a queen 
bee from ova not fertilized with sperm-cells, which cells, as obser- 
vation and experiment both have shown, may be for a long time 
detained in the spermotheca charged with them. A queen whose 
fecundation has been delayed till she is older than usual, is apt to 
yield only drone offspring. The next stage in rank is that of the 
worker, or undeveloped female. Every one knows the remarka- 
‘ble effect of nutrition upon its characters; a change of cell and 
food elevating it to the full endowments of a queen. Putnam and 
Gersteecker* have noticed among humble-bees what are called 
“large queen larvae,” intermediate between the workers and the 
perfect queens ; and Wyman has suggested that the earlier or later 
period of impregnation may determine this difference ; those first 
impregnated becoming queens, then the large queen larvie, next 
the workers, last the males. 
events, the coming on of cold weather begins the production of 
* Packard’s “ Guide to the Study of Insects,” p. 119. 
ii, p. 198. , 
tLinnæan Transactions, Xx 
