360 ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 



The males and females mate in the air, after which the males die and 

 the females tear oflf their wings. They then build small cells and com- 

 mence egg-laying. These eggs and their larvas are first tended by the 

 queen but later by the workers. The larvae are white and legless, and 

 at maturity spin egg-shaped cocoons. How queens are developed is 

 not known, but they and the workers may live for many years. The 

 food of ants is quite varied, but is usually of animal origin, especially 

 nectar and dead insects. On the whole ants are beneficial. 

 As to general habits ants may be classified into: 



1. Hunting ants which prey upon insects, other ants, etc. 



2. Slave-making ants which capture other species and make slaves 

 of them. 



3. Honey ants which collect honey and store it in certain members 

 of the colony — mostly western forms. 



4. Leaf-cutting ants which bite off bits of leaves, take them to their 

 nests, and grow fungi upon them~most^y tropical forms. 



5. Harvesting ants which collect and store seeds for food supply in 

 underground granaries — mostly southern forms. 



The colonies or nests occur either in the ground or in decaying 

 wood, and consist of irregular cavities that intercommunicate. Often 

 above the nests are dome-shaped hills in which the eggs are hatched, 

 and the legless larvae and pupae nurtured. 



Ants belonging to the sub-family Camponotince are stingless, and 

 here belong the genera Lasius, Camponotus and Formica. Those belong- 

 ing to the sub-family Myrmicince are stinging ants, including the genera 

 Solenopsis, Tetramorium, Monomorium, Cremastogaster, and Myrmica. 

 House and lawn ants may be classified, according to origin, into: 



1. Tropical old-world ants, represented by the little red ant or 

 Pharaoh's ant {Monomorium pharaonis Linn.), the crazy ant (Pre- 

 nolepis longicornis Latr.), a related species Prenolepis vividula Nyl. 

 and Plagiolepis longipes Jerden. 



2. Introduced tropical new- world ants, represented by the Argentine 

 ant (Iridomyrmex humilis Mayr.), and Prenolepis fulva var. pubens 

 Fovel. 



3. Native Temperate N. A. ants, represented by the thief ant 

 (Solenopsis molest a Say), the carpenter ant {Componotus herculaneus, 

 var. pennsylvanicus DeG.), the little black ant {Mo-nomoriuni minimum 

 Bckley), the American lawn or corn ant {Lasius niger var. americanus 



