134 HISTORY or 



The body of an ant is divided into the head, 

 breast, and belly. In the head the eyes are 

 placed, which are entirely black, and under the 

 eyes there are two small horns or feelers, com- 

 posed of twelve joints, all covered with a fine 

 silky hair. The mouth is furnished with two 

 crooked jaws, which project outwards, in each of 

 which are seen incisures, that look like teeth. 

 The breast is covered -with a fine silky hair, from 

 which project six legs that are pretty strong and 

 hairy, the extremities of each armed with two 

 small claws, which the animal uses in climbing. 

 The belly is more reddish than the rest of the 

 body, which is of a brown chesnut colour, shining 

 as glass, and covered with extremely fine hair. 



From such a formation, this animal seems 

 bolder and more active, for its size, than any 

 other of the insect tribe, and fears not to attack 

 a creature often above ten times its own magni- 

 tude. 



As soon as the winter is past, in the first fine 

 day in April, the ant-hill, that before seemed a 

 desert, now swarms with new life, and myriads 

 of these insects are seen just awaked from their 

 annual lethargy, and preparing for the pleasures 

 and fatigues of the season. For the first day 

 they never offer to leave the hill, which may be 

 considered as their citadel, but run over every 

 part of it, as if to examine its present situation, 

 to observe what injuries it has sustained during 

 the rigours of winter,* while they slept, and to 



* Memoires pour servir a 1'Histoire des Insectes, par Charles de Geer. 



