174 INVERTEBRATE ANIMALS. 
number of undeveloped females, or “neuters”—the so-called 
“‘ workers ”—presided over by a single fertile female, or “ queen,” 
or containing several such. The males are only produced at 
certain seasons, and they constitute the so-called “drones” of a 
hive of bees, The workers discharge all the duties necessary 
for the preservation of the colony, such as procuring food, build- 
ing the nests, and feeding the young. As there is only one set, 
or “caste,” of neuters, the duty of defending the nest falls to the 
Fig. 89.—Gooseberry Saw-fly (Zezthredo grossularie), 
larva, pupa, and imago. 
lot of all the workers, and is not delegated to a special class of 
soldiers. The queen is the founder of the colony, and her sole 
function, after starting the community, is to lay eggs. The 
drones, or males, do no work, as a rule, and they either die, or 
are killed by the workers, as soon as the female is fertilised. 
The Ants likewise form communities, consisting of males, 
females, and neuters. The males and females, like those of the 
very different “ White Ants,” or Termites, are winged (fig. 90, a), 
