FORMICA.. 
diflinguifh the infe&ts of this genus from the ftrudture’ ofthe 
antenne, thefe, as he obferves, being i in the true formice, 
elbowed or broken into an angle in the middle, an having 
the firft’ joint longer in proportion than the others; the 
ftemmata or falfe eyes three in number, and the abdomen 
— to the thorax by means of. a fhort peas or 
Hk 
_ This charaéter is further improved by Schaffer, who de- 
{cribes the formice as having the mouth armed with jaws, 
the wings incumbent, and the tarfi aomnoee of five ar rane 
ations, 
Fabricius defines the genus — flill more precifion, from 
the ftru€ture of the organs, or parts which compofe the 
mouth ; according to this niche. the feelers are four 
in number, unequal, with cy lindrical joints placed at 
the tip of the lip, which is cy hee and almoit mem- 
a and the cup ig ifo 
the Gmelinian editi oe the Syflema Nature 
the ee definition is sited with that before afligned 
to the g vane fermica by Linn 
Marck explains the oan a emeehat differently, and 
by thea slopes of his character, feveral of the Lianzan and 
Vabrician formice are excluded. ‘This writer lays down 
the enc ial cua as fo owes antenne filiform and 
aor pair cance: dwar: ie ngue fhort, con 
and truncated. ‘T'o this is added, asa ay aera 
that the abdomen is attached to the corfelet by a pedicle, 
bearing a {mall {cale, or vertical knob 3; and that of eacli 
fpecies there are three kinds, males, females, and neuters, 
which latter are without wings. ane larva’ deftitute of 
fee 
“It will not be amifs in this place to coma that the fpe- 
cies of formice known to Linneus, or at leaft defcribed by 
that naturalift, do not amount te twenty, a number nearly 
doubled by Fabricius ia his ‘* Species InfeCtorum,”’ as he 
there defcribes altogether thirty- (Gon and this number has 
gain progreflively oi Sales n his later r publications 
to about ninety fpecies. Thus it will be perceived that Fabri- 
ch not Linnzus is the rhe defcriker of the far greater 
number of thofe {pecies which are inferted in the laft edition 
of the Sy{tema Nature, and it muft be at the fame time ob- 
ferved aa it is Be aon to his labours we ftand andebied 
for our modi eo Co) thofe kinds which are peculiar to ex- 
tra-uropean climate 
Since the Gae of ae ahove writers, the hiftory of this cu- 
a» 
pm] 
Qa 
rincipa 
‘we fhould eae 5 Latrile “This author avhee ouly’a 
few new fpecies, yet enters more 1 minutely on the fub- 
Js8 ‘of clafiication in this family nee either of his prede- 
vs. . From the refult of ‘his hesadiealee it appears ne- 
“calfary to divide he formice of Linne sand Fabricius into 
two, ve not a greater number or gen era ; and béfides: that to 
“forkn: fevetal fubdivifons of thofe woe oe to be a 
. sinder’ the originat defignati ion ‘of ;form e ob- 
“vious diftin€tion confifts in’ the diffim! ie eee of ne an- 
tenne, thefe in one tribe oe in a mafs or club, an 
being in-the other nearly fetac ; in the latter the frit 
joints very long, the con alnott conic, and the laft of 
the fame bulk:as the foregoing, or rather lefs. The infeés 
pate compolé this fettion are further diftinguithed by other 
Sees which h feém’ ‘to concur in ae a natural line 
of. feparation be tween the two, genera, the moft material o 
bs - ae cine however t :s confit in the eudtare of the an- 
Latreille at one time proscied to .comprehend the firk 
mentioned tribe as a diftinét genus under the wame of cryp- 
tocérus, allowing oe others to remain under the original 
appellation of form In. an arrangement fubfequently 
publifhed by the eae ~anthor; he retains. the -whole as o 
ped which he-calls oe and andes this j is includ- 
o lefs than eight ge The fpecies of formicz, her- 
aes rufefcens, Fo caie, clavata, hamata, and cepha- 
lotes are coufidered generically diftin& from each other, and 
othe gen 
polyergaes he to odontomachus; clavata to po- 
nera ; hamata and. pe to eciton ; and cephalotes with 
rubra to myrmica ; the two remaining genera of this family 
are cryptocerus and dorylus. Several of thefe genera are 
ubdivided into two or more fections, which altogether ren- 
emed 
he fo rmic® are eile d among u 7 mires, a or em- 
s. They , liv oo the moit part, in large foc are 
rorerbially an induftrious race of an and, “Tike the 
bees, their fpecies are invariably compofed a three kinds, 
the rials, femalés, and neuters. The different dbase are 
difperfed Oman ein every part of the pai world: many 
inhabit woods, where they Seaarpe then anad in imme one 
colonies, ia the trunks of decayed tre se or in deep fubter- 
ranean cavities, each they ps ie conftru& i themfelves, 
r feize from otherss: ; for-colonies of ants are frequently met. 
ai: in cavities of the ground; which are known to be the 
burraws of rats, rabbits, and other quadrupeds, whofe 
iabitations thefe aici ae pole have probably ren- 
dered saree tot pela nal. occupiers. one form thei 
nefts in the eart Seat the fh AG of a heap of Heres 
or under a cok among Se ramifications and branches of 
the root ; while others occupy the more open places, in the 
ge | 
o the height of one, two, or three feet; and in hot cli- 
mates, even more above the furface of the ground. There 
are fpecies which in a fimilar manner form nefts in the 
fands ; 3 but thefe are not numerous. The interior of thefe 
nefts is generally fpacious, and adapted for the reception 
of thofe myriads of creatures which compofe each dilting& 
Thofe which refide in trees provide themfelves 
Others, and thofe in particular which live in the hillocks, 
conftruét the walls of their cones with dry vegetable fub- 
a 
materials, intermixed with earth and clay. The interior 
exhibits a number of apartments or paflages, the middle 
one of which may be confidered the principal, as being es 
nurfery for the larve: or young ; other parts are allotted 
s and femaies ; aad the more open {paces to oe 
neuters. 
conftru@tion of thefe nefts, in common with every 
other ecru s occupation, is the. bufinefs of the neuters, 
as-amoitg the *bee-tribe. While the latter are employed in 
drudgery, in providing the fociety with a fufficient ftock of 
provifion, and in the various toil incidental to the feeding 
and ‘rearing ee young, the females fit in inactivity, an 
‘never (a e neft, except to indulge in the fofter plone 
wi inneus believed their amours were co 
dudted aii the neft, an ne contradicted by the more 
recent 
~—s 
