pna a ie 
AMERICAN NATURALIST. 
Vol. II.— APRIL, 1868.—No. 2. 
ece DD 
NOTES ON.MEXICAN ANTS. 
BY EDWARD NORTON. 

Te insects mentioned in the following paper were for- 
warded to the Smithsonian Institution from Mexico by Pro- 
fessor Sumichrast, with notes by him upon the habits of 
several of the species. It is a matter of some interest to 
notice, that, among over twenty species, about half of which 
are undescribed, not one is known in the United States, 
while several are found in Panama and Brazil. Yet many 
of them live in the temperate region of Mexico! ` 
I have added to the statements of Professor Sumichrast 
some recorded accounts of several of the species already 
described, to show how little is really known about these 
curious insects, and partly in the hope that some reader of 
this paper may also become an observer of the species around 
his. own home, in their varied habits and occupations and 
labors. In the whole insect world, only the honey-bee 
equals the ant in its instinct and the development of rea- 
soning powers which appear truly marvellous in such minute 
creatures. 
Perhaps the most striking peculiarity of the ants is their 
social character ; assembling in companies of almost countless 
numbers, and yet working in harmony for definite objects ; 
_ g Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by the PEABODY ACADEMY OF 
SCIENCE, in the Clerk's Oce of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts. 
8 
AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. II. (57) 

