ANTS AND SAND WASPS. 579 



and those which are sufficiently fortunate to return to a nest of their own 

 species, become the future mothers of the community, and devote all their 

 energies to egg-laying. The wings of ants are rather long and large, and the 

 two principal nervures generally cross obliquely about the middle of the fore- 

 wings, and beyond this, a large, closed cell is formed in some genera. Ants 

 are divided into three principal families. The Formicidce bite, but do not 

 sting, and have only one node on the petiole of the abdomen. In the 

 Poneridce, the node is formed by the first segment of the abdomen, which is 

 frequently nearly as large as the others, but is completely detached from 

 them ; and in the Myrmicidce there are two small nodes forming the petiole 

 of the abdomen. Both these last families sting as well as bite. The most 

 familiar examples of the first and last families are the wood ant, Formica 

 rufa (Linn.), a large, smooth, reddish ant, which forms large mound-nests in 

 woods ; the much smaller red ants of the genus Myrmica (Latr.), which 

 infest our gardens ; and the minute yellow house- 

 ant, which is so troublesome and difficult to get rid 

 of wherever it effects a lodgment. Our British 

 representatives of the Poneridw, or "wicked ones,'' 

 are small and insignificant ; but to this family be- 

 long some of the largest known ants, such as the 

 great black Dinoponera grandis (Guer.) of Brazil, 

 which measures upwards of an inch in length. In 

 some of the larger species of Myrmicidce, belonging 

 to the genera Odontomachus (Latr. ),Mi/rmecm(Fabr.), 

 etc., the jaws are very long, and armed with 

 formidable teeth. We have figured a large red Fig 6 ;._ 

 and black Australian ant, Myrmecia forjicata forjicata). Nat. size. 

 (Fabr.). 



We have no space here to discuss the habits of ants, but those of our 

 readers who are interested in their wars, slave-raids, agriculture, cattle and 

 pets, will find ample information in the works of Huber, Kirby and Spence, 

 Moggridge, Lubbock, M'Cook, and others. 



The Fossores, or sand wasps, are a large group of insects consisting of 

 winged males, and winged or apterous females, which are solitary in their 

 habits, and generally dig holes in the ground, which they fill 

 with insects or spiders which they have paralysed but not Sand Wasps 

 killed with their sting, and which remain as a store of fresh (Fossores). 

 provision for the larvse of the wasps. The wings of the 

 burrowing wasps are not folded longitudinally when at rest ; the abdomen is 

 often petiolated ; the legs are usually very spiny or hairy, and the pro- 

 thorax is transverse, the sides not being arched backwards to the base of 

 the wings, as in the true wasps. We notice here some of the principal 

 families only. 



The Mutillidce have winged males, and very hairy apterous females, and 

 are sometimes improperly called " solitary ants." They are very numerous 

 in the warmer parts of the world, and we have two or three 

 species in Britain, though they are not very common. The Families of 

 Thynnidce are another family with apterous, but nearly Fossores. 

 naked females ; they are almost confined to Australia and 

 South America. In both the above families the legs are very hairy. The 

 Pompilidce have long spiny legs, and the abdomen is shortly petiolated. 

 Among them we find the largest Hymenopterous insects known, some of 



