sie john lubbock on ants, bees, and wasps. 133 

 Longevity. 



It may be remembered that my nests have enabled me to keep 

 ants under observation for long periods, and that I have identified 

 workers of Lasius niger and Formica fusca which were at least 

 7 years old, and two queens oi Formica fusca which have lived with 

 me ever since December 1874. One of these queens, after ailing 

 for some days, died on the 30th July, 1887. She must then have 

 been more than 13 years old. I was at first afraid that the other 

 one might be affected by the death of her companion. She 

 lived, however, until the 8th August, 1888, when she must have 

 been nearly 15 years old, and is therefore by far the oldest 

 insect on record. 



Moreover, what is very extraordinary, she continued to lay 

 fertile eggs. This remarkable fact is most interesting from a 

 physiological point of view. Fertilization took place in 1874 at 

 the latest. There has been no male in the nest since then, and, 

 moreover, it is I believe well established that queen ants and 

 queen bees are fertilized once for all. Hence the spermatozoa 

 of 1874 must have retained their life and energy for 13 years, a 

 fact, I believe, unparalleled in physiology. 



In some plants (Eues) the pollen-tube takes as long as two 

 years to reach the ovule. Indeed the pollen has some claims to 

 be regarded as a separate organism, for it certainly possesses the 

 power of growth and of assimilating nourishment. There is not, 

 however, so far as I am aware, any other case which can compare 

 with that of my queen ant as regards the longevity of the male 

 element. One is even tempted to wonder, under such circum- 

 stances, whether there is any multiplication of the spermatogenic 

 cells. 



Moreover the case is not altogether isolated. I had another 

 queen of Formica fusca which lived to be 13 years old, and I have 

 now a queen of Lasius niger which is more than 9 years old, and 

 still lays fertile eggs which produce female ants. 



Ants and Seeds of Melam'pgrum pratense. 

 M. Liindstrom has recently called attention to the interesting 

 fact that the seeds of this plant closely resemble pupae of ants 

 in size, shape, and colour, even to the black mark at one end. 

 He has suggested very ingeniously that this may be an advantage 

 to the plant by deceiving the ants, and thus inducing them to 

 carry oft' and so disseminate the seeds. There seemed, however, 



LINN. JOUEN. — ZOOLOGY, VOL. XX. 12 



