INSECTA : HYMENOPTERA 



427 



( L. flavus (the Yellow Meadow Ant). 

 Lasius. \ L. niger (the Common Black Garden Ant). 



[L. fuliginosus (the Jet Black Ant, inhabit- 

 ing old posts or rotten trees). 

 Polyergus. The Russet or Amazon Slave-making Ant of 



Europe (not British). 

 Oecophylla. Native of Asia (not British). 

 Myrmecocystus. The Honey Ant of America. 

 Sub-family 2. Myrmicides. Two nodes are present, and a 



well-developed sting, pupae always naked. 

 (Myrmica. M. rubra is the only species common 



in Britain. 



Atta ( = 0ecodoma}, the Leaf-cutting Ant of 

 America. 



Genera, j 



PRACTICAL NOTES ON ANTS 



1. The Yellow Meadow Ant (Lasius flavus) is perhaps the best 

 kind to keep for preliminary observations on Ant life. 



FIG. 320. An Observation Nest for Ants, uncovered and seen from above. 



A, "Nursery " chamber ; C, playground room ; D, opening of food trough ; 



E, sloping passage leading from A to C. 



This ant is common in light soil, and it is not difficult, with a 

 trowel, to dig away the nest until the inner chambers are disclosed. 

 The queen may be hidden at a depth of 2 or 3 feet from the 

 surface. She should be very carefully searched for, and, when 

 found, transferred with a number of workers, pupae, larvae, and 

 eggs to a box partly filled with the fine earth of which the nest 

 was made. Later on the ants can be again moved, this time 

 into the special nest which they are to inhabit for some months. 



