HYMENOPTERA. 



Z79 



ibdomen, as in Pojiera ; their larvae spin a silky cocoon. They have 

 10 sting, bjit they pour into the wounds made by their mandibles an 

 icid liquor, the pungent smell of which is well known. This liquid 

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

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



Fig 361. — Sections of an Ant's Nest. 



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

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

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

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

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

 )f France, people who have eaten these crimes aux fourniis I Folyer- 

 jus forms a sub-genus of Formica. 



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



