336 INSECTS AT HOME. 



females, the Worl<el's, or neuters, as they are sometimes called, 

 being: windless. 



Our first example of this most interesting- group is the 

 Wood- Ant, House-Axt, or Hill-Ant {Formica rufa), which is 

 shown on Woodcut XXXIII. Figs. 4, 5, 6, all the figures being- 

 magnified. At Fig. 4 is shown the perfect male, at P^ig. 6 

 the perfect female, and at Fig. 5 the imperfect female, neuter, 

 or worker. 



These are our largest British ants, the female exceeding a 

 third of an inch in length, and the male being only a little 

 less. The workers are of two sizes, one rather more than a 

 quarter of an inch in length, and the other about the fifth or 

 sixth of an inch. In the female, the head and thorax are rust- 

 red, and the abdomen black. The wings are translucent milky 

 .white, with a tinge of brown towards the base. The male is 

 yellowish-black, with red legs, and has wings like those of the 

 female. The larger workers are coloured much like the per- 

 fect female, but there is more black about them. The smaller 

 workers are generally darker than their larger sisters of labour. 



This is one of the commonest species of British ants, as is 

 evident from the fact that it has three popular names. It is 

 termed Wood- Ant because it prefers woods for its habitation ; 

 Horse- Ant, because it is larger than the other species ; and 

 Hill-Ant on account of the shape of its nests. These nests are 

 very common in our woods, and especially plentiful in fir- 

 woods, because in them the needle-like leaves of the fir-trees 

 fall in numbers to the ground, and afford material ready pre- 

 pared for making the hillocks in which are concealed those 

 portions of the habitation which are above ground. Sometimes 

 the ants further protect themselves by taking advantage of a 

 tree which is hollow to the ground, and building their nests 

 within it. 



In order to form this external nest, which is often of enor- 

 mous size, the ants travel to great distances, always following 

 some definite track; which in course of time is plain to the 

 eye, even though all the ants be within their nest. When 

 once these ants have taken to a track, tliey adhere to it, and 

 many successive generations continue to use it. I have been 

 shown ant-roads by old men, who stated that they have been 

 fa-miliar with tliem from tlieir earliest recollections. On a fine 



