ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS. 



CHAPTER L 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE Anthropoid apes no doubt approach nearer to 

 man in bodily structure than do any other animals ; 

 but when we consider the habits of Ants, their social 

 organisation, their large communities, and elaborate 

 habitations; their roadways, their possession of domestic 

 animals, and even, in some cases, of slaves, it must be 

 admitted that they have a fair claim to rank next to 

 man in the scale of intelligence. They present, more- 

 over, not only a most interesting, but also a very ex- 

 tensive field of study. 



Ants are divided into three families: the Form- 

 i'-i<he, Poneridac, and Myrmicidae, comprising many 

 genera and a large number of species. In this country 

 we have rather more than thirty kinds ; but ants be- 

 come more numerous in species, as well as individual . 

 in wanner countries, and more than a thousand sp 



B 



