(10/21. Fritz Muller has discovered in
the animal kingdom 'Jenaische Zeitschr.' B. 4 page 451, a case curiously
analogous to that of the plants which bear cleistogene and perfect
flowers. He finds in the nests of termites in Brazil, males and females
with imperfect wings, which do not leave the nests and propagate the
species in a cleistogene manner, but only if a fully-developed queen
after swarming does not enter the old nest. The fully-developed males
and females are winged, and individuals from distinct nests can hardly
fail often to intercross. In the act of swarming they are destroyed in
almost infinite numbers by a host of enemies, so that a queen may often
fail to enter an old nest; and then the imperfectly developed males and
females propagate and keep up the stock.) The former are always minute,
completely closed, with their petals more or less rudimentary and never
brightly coloured; they never secrete nectar, never are odoriferous,
have very small anthers which produce only a few grains of pollen, and
their stigmas are but little developed. Bearing in mind that some
flowers are cross-fertilised by the wind (called anemophilous by
Delpino), and others by insects (called entomophilous), we can further
understand, as was pointed out by me several years ago, the great
contrast in appearance between these two classes of flowers. (10/22.
'Journal of the Linnean Society' volume 7 Botany 1863 page 77.
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