157 



The Common House-ant. 



Monnm,oriuin pharaonis Tiinri. 



T\nH niimiic! ii)S(!ct, tlio coiiurKHi smull red unt (Fig. 14.'j, 144) whicli 

 fre(jU(!ntly itiRjsts the kitchen and the pantry and sometimes becomes 

 an ahnost micontrollable nuisance there, has ]K;eri once niporUul as 

 s(!riously injuring corn by gnawing tlie l)lades when they were but a few 

 inches high for the purpose of drinking the sap which flowed from the 

 wounds. Jn 1S.5() it was so numerous and active; in some New York 

 corn fields as to threaten to destroy every blade of corn in them.* It 

 was first described from Egyptian specimens, and is world-wi(l(! in its 

 distribution. 



I'"lf;. 145. The J.ittio lilack .\iit, Monomi/rium minutam: a, feiiiu.li;; b, .same, with 

 wings; c, male; d, workera; fi, pupa; /, larva; {/, et<(; of worker. KnlarKci a.» irnJicated. 

 (Marlatt, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.) 



The Little Black Ant. 



Monomorium minutum Mayr. 



This species closely resembles the troublesome small red ant of the 

 kitchen and pantry except that it is entirely black (Fig. 145). It is also 

 a house pest, but to a much lesser degree. It is frequently found in 



♦"First and Second Report on the Noxious, Jleneficiai, and other Insects of the State of Sew 

 York," p. 129. By Dr. Asa Fitch. 1866. 



