THE ANT, £21 



Genus IX. — Formica, T!he Ant, 



The chara£ler3 of this remarkable tribe are, a fmall 

 erecl fcale between the thorax and abdomen ; truncated 

 or broken antenna, having their firft articulation longer 

 than the reft ; the females and neuters armed with a 

 fling, which is concealed in the abdomen. The males 

 and females have wings, while the neuters are apterous *• 



In the Syftem of Nature, there are enumerated eighteen 

 different fpecies of the ant ; of thefe, the largefl is the 

 hippomyrmex, or horfe ant, which is found in the hol- 

 low trunks of rotten trees. The head is black, and the 

 thorax ferruginous ; the feet are of the fame colour, 

 while the abdomen is brown : The ere£t fcale between 

 that part and the thorax, is oval, entire, pointed, and 

 round f . The other animals of this genus moft common, 

 are. 



The larger and fmaller red ants. Thefe are found in 

 •woods, or under heaps of dry earth, and are the moll la- 

 borious and induftrious of the whole infedl tribe : under 

 thefe charaders they are frequently alluded to by almoft 

 every writer of antiquity. 



Vol. III. . 3 U The 



* Syftema Nature, Ord. V. Gen. iK. 

 •J- Vide Rai Inf. p. 79. 



