CHAPTER IV. 



FORMICID.E, OR JNTS. 



The wonderful insects which are known by the popular name 

 of Ants are essentially creatures of the sun, even though, as in 

 many cases, they are unable not only to endure his direct beams, 

 but even to bear the ordinary light of day. Wherever on the 

 face of the earth the sun shines strongest, there are the Ants in 

 greatest force. In fact, they form a broad belt round the earth, 

 thickest towards the equator, and thinning gradually towards 

 the poles. 



Take, for example, the northern parts of the world, and 

 scarcely an Ant is to be seen. Take our own country, and 

 there we have a few species — none large, most small, and some 

 of the very minutest dimensions. But in the tropical parts of 

 the earth the Ants are masters of the soil, and no living crea- 

 ture can stand in tlieir path. Not only do they absolutely 

 swarm in point of numbers, but they attain no small size — many 

 species being as large as the common English wasp, and in- 

 finitely more formidable. 



As even a slight sketch of the Ant tribes would occupy 

 several volumes, it is necessary to select those species which 

 afford the most salient examples of this vast group. The first 

 example is the largest of all the Ant tribe, and is appropriately 

 called Componotus (or Formica) gigas. 



This is an insect which has a very large range of country, the 

 specimens in the British Museum having been brought from 

 India, Singapore, and Borneo. As the figures which are here 

 given are drawn from measurement, the reader will easily see 

 that the insect is a most formidable creature. It is distributed 

 over a considera,ble part of the world, the specimens in the 



