CHERRY. LEAVES LITTLE YELLOW ANT. 129 



abdomen which we meet with in the true ants, these have two 

 round knot-like swellings; and their thorax is also armed with 

 thorn-like spines, of which there are in most of the species two, 

 situated at its base and projecting backwards. 



Altogether the most abundant and annoying species of ant 

 which we have in the State of New York pertains to this genus. 

 It is commonly called the " Little yellow ant " and was named 

 the Troublesome ant (Myrmica molesta) by Mr. Say in a communi- 

 cation published in the first volume of the Boston Journal of 

 Natural History, page 293, and by a strange oversight the same 

 species is again described upon the succeeding page under the 

 name M. minuta. The neuter or worker of this species is of a 

 honey yellow color with the head and abdomen tinged with brown, 

 the abdomen being broad oval and almost globular. It is but six 

 hundredths of an inch in length, and being so small it is able to 

 penetrate the slightest cracks in boxes or cupboards. It is com- 

 mon in our dwellings, and when an individual finds any saccha- 

 rine substance the information is communicated to the rest of the 

 colony, and before the housewife is aware of the depredation that 

 is going on, the dish of sweetmeats or other preserved substance 

 becomes covered with them, whilst a procession of individuals 

 going and returning in a particular track maybe traced along the 

 shelves and wainscoats, frequently extending through different 

 rooms of the house. I have experienced some difficulty in pre- 

 serving my collection of insects from this depredator, some box 

 or drawer not perfectly tight being invaded by them ere I am 

 aware of it, almost every season. But by crushing every indivi- 

 dual which does not escape into some crevice, and permitting their 

 bodies to remain where they are slain, their comrades take warn- 

 ing and cease to frequent the spot. The vapor of camphor also 

 repels them. Small colonies of this same species are also com- 

 mon in our gardens, throwing up in the paths and beds little 

 hillocks of dirt around the hole which leads to their underground 

 dwelling. It is also common in our pastures and plowed fields, 

 and sometimes does much injury in cornfields, gnawing the blades 

 of corn when they are but a few inches high, for the purpose of 

 drinking the sweet juice which flows from the wounds. It was 



[Assembly, No. 215. j 9 



