154 HYMENOPTERA. 



abdominal-thoracic stalk are 'provided with a sting and are poison- 

 ous ; but the genus Formica has no sting, yet is nevertheless 

 poisonous. The latter bite, and then squirt the formic poison 

 into the vs^ound. During the greater part of the year a colony 

 of ants consists only of workers, larvse, and pupse; hut in 

 summer winged males and females appear, which we see flying 

 about on warm days. They pair in the air. When fertilised 

 they faU to the ground ; the wings are then torn off, and 

 the female is borne along by the workers to deposit her eggs in 

 the nest of the colony. Ant grubs are very feeble creatures : 

 they are fed with specially prepared food by the workers, and 

 when mature pupate in the same cells. The pupae of the sting- 

 less ants {Formica) are in a cocoon; those of the stinging Myrmica 

 are naked. These cocoons are usually called " ants' eggs," and 

 form a valuable food for pheasants and other birds as well as 

 goldfish. The dwellings of ants consist of passages and holes 

 in wood and earth, and also of heaps of earth, pine-needles, and 

 pieces of wood thrown up into hill-like areas. A large niimher 

 of species are found in Britain, some more or less injurious. 

 The food consists of both animal and vegetable substances. As 

 destroyers of small caterpillars they are certainly beneficial, but 

 they also do much damage. Some form their nests in meadows 

 and cornfields, and render mowing a difficult operation. The 

 nests they form, however, can be easily cut down, and the 

 contents killed ; whilst the earth spread over the grass will 

 do much good. They may make pasture-land look unsightly, 

 but they do as much good as harm. One peculiar habit is 

 the curious way in which they keep colonies of Aphides, so as 

 to draw the sweet honey-dew out of them ; they even stimulate 

 this secretion by stroking the backs of the plant-lice, and then 

 take up the sweet drops as they issue from their cornicles. 



One of our largest ants is the Eed Wood Ant {Formica rufot), 

 which forms dome-shaped nests in woods, especially pine-woods. 

 Fruit, notably peaches, are seriously affected by these little 

 pests. 



