2 
produced during the summer and almost immediately take their nuptial 
flight. The males soon perish, and the females shortly afterwards tear 
off their own wings, which are but feebly attached, and set about the 
establishment of new colonies. The eggs, which are produced in 
extraordinary numbers by the usually solitary queen mother, are very 
minute, oval, whitish objects, and are cared for by the workers, the 
young larvee being fed in very much the same way as in the colonies of 
the hive bee. The so-called ant eggs, in the popular conception, are 
not eggs at all, but the white larvee and pupz, and, if of females or 
males, are much larger than the workers and many times larger than 
the true eggs. 
Fria. 2.—The little black ant (Monomoriwm minutum): a, female; b, same with wings; 
ec, male; d, workers; e, pupa; f, larva; g, egg of worker. All enlarged (author’s 
illustration). 
THE RED ANT. 
As a house species the red ant (Monomorium pharaonis L.) (fig. 1) 
is the common one. ° It is practically cosmopolitan, and its exact origin 
is unknown. This species, nesting habitually in the walls of houses or 
beneath flooring, is often difficult to eradicate. There is no means of 
doing this except to locate the nest by following the workers back to 
their point of disappearance. If in a wall, the inmates of the nest may 
sometimes be reached by injecting bisulphid of carbon or a little kero- 
sene. If under flooring, it may sometimes be possible to get at them 
by taking up asection. Unless the colony can be reached and destroyed 
all other measures will be of only temporary avail. 
THE LITTLE BLACK ANT. 
The little black ant (Monomorium minutum Mayr) (fig. 2) is not 
strictly a house species, although frequently occurring indoors and 
becoming at times quite as troublesome as the red ant. Its colonies 
