16 JOUHNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, 1892. 



however has amply proved that a $ not only can live 7 or 8 years, 

 hut that her fecundity remains unimpaired. The ? too, he has 

 shown, lives equally long, in this, assimilating to the bees rather than 

 the wasps, whose communities, in Europe at any rate, are annual ones. 

 The body of an ant consists of 3 parts — Head, Thorax, and Abdo 

 men. The thorax however is not joined directly to the abdomen, but 

 is connected with it by a ' pedicle,' the shape of which is of considerable 

 importance in classification. The antennse in the $ and § consist of 

 along shaft {1st joint) known as the 'scape/ and a 'flagellum' of from 

 6 to 11 short segmentSj the apical ones, usually, forming a sort of 

 club. The number of segments is usually different in the $ and i , 

 The anteunse of the latter may contain as many as 17 joints, and the 

 first joint is usually not appreciably longer than the rest, and thd 

 club shape is wanting. The eyes of ants are compound, consisting 

 of many facets, varying from 1 to 1,200 or 1,500. Some species, 

 however, are quite blind. In addition to these compound eyes, ants 

 have also ocelli, usually 3 in number, arranged in a triangle, with the 

 apex in front, on the top of the head, though sometimes the anterioi* 

 ocellus alone is present. Usually the 5? are without ocelli, which, 

 however, are always present in the $ and S . The pupa among the 

 ants is sometimes naked, and sometimes enclosed in a cocoon. It has 

 even been recorded that in the same species and even in the same 

 community the pupa is sometimes naked and sometimes not. The 

 abdomen, in the ? and ? consists of 6 segments, in the 6 of 7. 



Four main sub-divisions of the ants have hitherto usually been 

 recognized : — 



1. FormicidoB : — having one node in the pedicle, destitute of sting, 



pupse naked or enclosed in a cocoon. 



2. Poneridce : — having one node in the pedicle, the second 



segment of the abdomen constricted, armed with 

 a sting, pupse enclosed in a cocoon. 



3. Borylidce : — pedicle and abdomen sometimes as in the FoneridcB^ 



sometimes as in the MyrmicidcB. 



4. Myrmicidce : — having two nodes in the pedicle, armed with a 



sting, pupae naked. 

 Dr. Forel, of Zurich, to whose works, and kind assistance, I am 

 indebted for most of the technical information contained in this 



