Note 4 — CHAP. III. OF THE FECUNDATION, &C. OF ANTS.

For the discovery of the female ants voluntarily depriving themselves of their wings, after impregnation, we are certainly indebted to our present author; but, as far as regards the simple fact of these insects losing their wings, Linnæus, De Geer, &c. were fully acquainted with it; to which indeed our author alludes. Gould himself conjectured, that the females which fell under his notice once possessed wings. After a few remarks on the condition of what he terms ant-flies, he says, “If you strip a large ant-fly of its wings, when a week old, or more, which is very easily done, for they will come off by the most gentle touch imaginable, and then place it in a microscope with a queen, you will perceive no manner of difference as to their frame; the like indented places, or little hollows in the breast where the wings commonly lie, will be found in each; from whence, there is great reason to believe the queen was originally adorned with such gaiety, and appeared in the character of a fly. It is also observable, as a strong confirmation of this sentiment, that abundance of the large ant-flies, just before or soon after leaving the colonies, actually drop their wings, and, except a small difference in complexion, which has not yet attained its true gloss, are not to be distinguished from the queens. You may, the latter end of July, and great part of August, often meet with these unwinged ants, travelling about, as it were, at random. If you place a number of large ant-flies in a box, the wings of many of them will, after some time, gradually fall off like autumnal leaves. This circumstance is peculiar to the large sort; for if you confine the small ones ever so long, their wings will continue fixed, and cannot be separated without some difficulty.” In another place, he observes, “the casting of their wings is an instance peculiar to the large ant-flies. These are to other insects their highest decorations, and the want of them lessens their beauty and shortens their life. On the reverse, a large ant-fly gains by the loss, and is afterwards promoted to a throne, and drops these external ornaments as emblems of too much levity for a sovereign.”—T.