CHAPTER VIII. 



THE HISTORY OF MYRMECOLOGY AND THE CLASSIFICATION 



OF ANTS. 



" I A.-. ni< curs cles fourmis sont si variees qu'il est important cle connoitre a 

 quelle espetv se rapporte chaque trait d'industrie, chaque particularite de leur 

 histoire." P. Huber, " Rechercbes sur les Moeurs des Fourmis Indigenes," 1810. 



Myrmecology has been more fortunate than many other branches 

 of entomology in the men who have contributed to its development. 

 These have been actuated, almost without exception, not by a mania 

 for endless multiplication of genera and species, but by a temperate 

 and philosophical interest in the increase of our knowledge. The 

 reason for this fortunate circumstance is probably to be sought in the 

 ingeninm formiccc male habitat, the fact that ants are small, homely 

 organisms with nothing to attract the amateur who cares only for size 

 and beauty of form and color. This is, perhaps, regrettable as it has 



FIG. 67. \Yorker of Sima allaborans of India. (Bingham.) 



certainly retarded the accumulation of study materials in our museums 

 and private collections, and has left the subject in the hands of a few 

 devotees. Hut this disadvantage is not so great as might be supposed, 

 because the species of ants, though far less numerous than those of 

 butterflies and beetles, are nevertheless more abundant in individuals 

 and hence more easily obtained. Undoubtedly the great difficulty of the 

 study has had much to do with limiting the number of mynnecologists, 

 especially in America. Here the literature of descriptive myrmecology, 

 which is widely scattered through somewhat obscure serials and is 

 written very largely in the German, French and Italian languages, has 

 remained quite inaccessible to the average student. Even a knowledge 



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