HYMENOPTERA. 



379 



abdomen, as in Ponera; their larvae spin a silky cocoon. They have 

 no sting, but they pour into the wounds made by their mandibles an 

 acid liquor, the pungenj smell of which is well known. This liquid 

 is formic acid, a natural product, which the chemist now-a-days 

 knows how to make artificially, by the action of dilute sulphuric acid 



Fig 361. Sections of an Ar.t 1 



on maize and other vegetable matters. Their whole body is im- 

 pregnated with this acid, and has a strong sour smell. Some people 

 like to chew ants, on account of their sourish taste. " They also 

 make," says Charles de Geer, " creams for side-dishes, to which these 

 ants give, they say, the taste of lemon-juice." We know, in the south 

 of France, people who have eaten these cr ernes aux four mis ! Polyer- 

 gus forms a sub-genus of Formica. 



In all these species, the workers, or neuters, have the charge of 



