TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

 ANTS AS DOMINANT INSECTS. 



PAGE 



I. The Social Insects, and Their Interest for Man I 



II. The Dominance of Ants, as shown by 



I. Unusual Variability. 2. Wide Distribution. 3. Numerical 

 Ascendancy. 4. Longevity. 5. Abandonment of Detrimental 

 Specialization. 6. Versatility of Their Relations with Plants 

 and Other Animals 2 



III. Probable Cause of the Dominance of Ants 3 



IV. Correlative Indications of This Dominance 4 



V. Comparison of Human and Ant Societies 5 



I. Striking Character of the Resemblances and Their Signifi- 

 cance. 2. Parallelism in Development. 3. Differences in 

 Organization. 



VI. Analogy between the Ant Colony and the Cellular Organism 7 



VII. Economic Importance of Ants 8 



i. Their Beneficial Activities. 2. Their Noxious Habits. 



VIII. Ants as Objects of Biological Study II 



CHAPTER II. 



THE EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF ANTS. 



I. General Distinguishing Characters 13 



II. The Segmentation of the Body 14 



III. The Integument 15 



IV. The Head 16 



I. Shape and Chief Divisions. 2. The Cranium. 3. The 

 Mouth-parts. 4. The Antennae. 5. The Eyes. 



V. The Thorax 20 



I. The Thorax in General. 2. The Thoracic Elements. 3. 

 The Stigmata. 4. Comparison of Thoracic Characters of 

 Male, Female and Worker. 5. The Legs. 6. The Wings. 



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