218 



SCHOOL ENTOMOLOGY 



although it is most troublesome in the house it attacks vari- 

 ous crops. It is a small species, about one-tenth of an inch 

 long, of a uniform brown color. The nests are built beneath 

 and in the walls of houses, under stones, in hollow trees, and 



FIG. 153. The little black ant (Monomorium minutum). (After 

 Marlatt, U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



a, female; b, same with wings; c, male; d, workers; e, pupa; /, larva; g, egg 

 of worker all enlarged. 



in various other places. These ants occur in enormous num- 

 bers and swarm into houses and over everything. They are 

 not only practically omnivorous, but do not hesitate to 

 attack a person, and although their bite is not severe, scores 

 of them soon make themselves decidedly disagreeable and 



