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XXIII. On the Genus Myrmica, and other indigenous Ants. 

 By John Curtis, Esq., F.L.S. fyc. 



Read March 21, 1854. 



NOTWITHSTANDING the valuable volume published by LatreiUe in 1802 * upon the 

 Ants, the species inhabiting our island were but imperfectly known until very recently. 

 That talented naturalist divided the Formicidce into several families or sections, which 

 he subsequently named ; and he found simple and admirable characters for dividing the 

 European forms into two groups. 



It is one of the characteristics of the Hymenoptera, that the abdomen is attached to 

 the trunk by a neck or petiole, more or less attenuated f. Every one is familiar with the 

 structure of the Wasp, which is a good example of the petiolated Hymenoptera. In the 

 Ants, however, this connecting portion or petiole is very peculiar in its form, being fur- 

 nished on the upper surface with scales or nodules %. This forms the basis of Latreille's 

 subdivision of the Ants, one section having a single scale, the other two nodules on the 

 petiole. 



It is true that the valuable monographs of Nylander § and Foerster || have lately cleared 

 the way and placed us in a better position, but owing to the fact that each species of Ant 

 exhibits three phases, the study of the family becomes complicated, and unless one can 

 detect and examine a nest, when the Ants begin to swarm, it is not easy to decide with 

 certainty upon the relationship of individuals ; consequently there are many species 

 whose history is not complete, and many points remain unsettled. The workers, or 

 neuters as they are called, of most species are abundant enough, and the females of some 

 families resemble them, but the males are generally very different, whilst the females are 

 often deprived of their wings ; and even amongst the workers there are two kinds varying 

 in size if not in other respects ; so that to an unpractised eye a nest might appear to be 

 inhabited by five different kinds of Ant. 



With such a complication of materials it is not surprising that errors in our nomen- 

 clature should exist, and I present this Essay to the Linnean Society more with the hope 

 of inducing young and zealous entomologists to study this interesting family, than with 

 any great expectation of producing much myself that is new, or of rendering the nomen- 

 clature perfect. 



* Histoire naturelle des Fourmis. 



t In some instances this neck is so short that the connecting portion is invisible, and the Saw-flies (Tenthredinidee) 

 are altogether an exception, the abdomen being sessile ; but it is remarkable that the larvae in that family resemble 

 caterpillars, and have not only feet, but a greater number than any other larvse of insects, amounting in some species 

 to twenty-two, whilst in Lepidojptera the maximum is sixteen feet. 



X Vide the plates to Mr. Smith's Monograph of the Genus Cryptocerus in the Trans. Eut. Soc. N. S. vol. ii. p. 213. 



§ Adnotationes in Monogr. Formic. Borealium Europse, 1846. | Hymenopt. Studien, ltes Heft, 1850. 



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