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Show 120 INSECTA. in a perfect state that have either been metamorphosed there, or torn from their original dwelling. Such is the composition of the mixed .!Jnt-hiUs. For these curious observations, which I have verified, we are indebted to M. Huber, Jun., who is so gloriously pur-suing the career of his father. It is well known that the Ant is extravagantly fond of a saccharine liquid that exudes from the bodies of the Aphides and Gallinsecta. Four or five species convey both these Aphides and their eggs, particularly in bad weather, to the bottom of their nests, and even fight for the right of possession. Some construct little galleries of earth, leading from the Ant-hill, which extend throughout the entire length of trees to the very branches that are loaded with these Insects. These interesting facts have also been observed by the naturalist just referred to( 1 )· Both males and females perish towards the close of autumn, or on the first approach of winter. The labourers pass the winter in their hill in a torpid state, and their so highly vaunted foresight in this respect has no other aim than that of augmenting and consolidating their habitation by all sorts of means, for provisions would be useless at a period when they are incapacitated from using them(2). The economy of the Ants foreign to Europe, and those of tropical countries particularly, is unknown to us. If those, called the Fourmis de visite by the French colonists, are sometimes of use to them by purging their dwellings of Rats, and a multitude of destructive or disagreeable Insects; othe.r species induce them to curse their existence on account of the extent of their depredations, which it is impossible to prevent. I divide the genus Formica in the following manner: (1) See his Recherches sur les Fourmis Indigenes. (2) How will this reasoning apply to those that dwell in the interior of trees, &c., and whose habitations do not require this consolidation, or to those thllt in· habit. tropical countries, where hibernation is out of the question, but where, at certam seasons, they are liable to be confined to their abodes for weeks in success· ion b~ hea:r rains? What. is to become of the larva: during this period of occlus10n, 1f the nurses wh1ch feed them are themselves destitute of nourish· ment? Various Ro~entia, th~t are known to pass the winter in a state of lethargy, lay by ~mple .supplies, on wh1ch they feed early in the spring, or in the event of a fortmtous dJs:ur_bance of their slumbers, and it is a fact worthy of notice, that the Ant, wherever 1t 1s found-generally speaking, and always supposing its domicil to be c_ompleted-alwa.ys prefers particles of sugar, animal matter, and of what may str1ctly be denominated provisions, to substances much more durable and better calculated for building. .11m. Ed. HYMENOPTERA. 121 FORM lOA Or Ants properly so called in wh. ' . antennre are inserted near the' fr·ont• Ich ~he sting is wanting, and the dentated and incisive Th d. ' their mandibles are trian 1 of m h • e pe Icle of the bel gu ar, or·e t an one scale or knot a omen never consists F. bispinosa Lat. H ..t N BI _ac k ; two spi'n es be'f oreI st h· e tha t• . de•s F ourm.' P· 133, iv, 20. mmated in a long and shar o.l ax, scale of the abdomen terIarge quantity of down p pomt. It forms its nest with a G . ' apparently deriv d f ossampmus.-lnhabits C e rom a species of F. rttfa, L .. Lat Ib.d ayenne. • 1 ' ., I ., v, 28 Tl In ength, blackish; thorax j le neuter about four lines fulvous; thorax unequal· ;hsca e,la~d great part of the head form s com·c a1 or dome-l'i ke ea nodc e h some w h at appai·ent. It' woods, composed of earth r frequently large hills in the duces formic acid . Th e ' wm.Iggneedo u.s rf ragments ' &c . It. pro-spring. me tviduals appear in the dF.. sanguinea ' Lat. , Ib.I d ., v 29 Th ce mg ones, but of a blood~red. e male similar to the pre-black. It inhabits the woods ~olour; abdomen cinereous- .ll.mazons or Legionna-ires by M a~ tbs one of those denominated F. cunicularia L · u er. . . . ' at. Head and bel ncmity of the mouth und a omen of the male black. first . joint of the anten'n ce, pearl ep afut·lt of the head ' thol.a x, 1e gs and' s~e~•es are those captured by th v~us. This aud the following the~r hills, in order to aid and e I mazons, and transported to t eFu. · young. rep ace them in tl1 e reari. ng of · · fusca ' L .-,. F.· not.r cendree L . c1m ereous-black a n d g 1o ssy; base' f a1t ., Ibtcl. ' vi ' 32• T he male t le scale large and a I most triango ult alre· anI tennre and I egs reddish; ' t lree appat·ent o ce II·1 . PoLYERGus Lat Wh · ' • ere the sung is still . serted near the mo wantmg, but where th or stroFn. gly hooke~t. h, and the mandibles are narr: wa,n taenndnc ae i·acruea tiend- . roussatre, Lat., Ibid .. . larly called Amazon b ., vu, 38, is the species mor . Four•mis & Y M. Huber See 1. R e particu- ' c., P· 210-260 pi ... F. HS echerches sur I ' • 11' • roussatre. I n all Francees. . PoNER~ LaL fhe ma1es and t emales at·med · . VoL. IV.-Q wnh a stmg; pedicle of th e abdomen |
