272 



Chapter XV. 



Structures of the Wood-Ant or Pismire, and of Carpenter-Arts. 



The largest of our British ants is that called the 

 Hill-ant by Gould, the Fallow-ant by the English 

 translator of Huber, arfH popularly the Pismire ; but 

 which we think may be more appropriately named 

 the Wood-ant (Formica rufa, Lath..), from its invari- 

 able habit of living in or near woods and forests. This 

 insect may be readily distinguished from other ants 

 by the dusky black colour of its head and hinder parts, 

 and the rusty brown of its middle. The structures 

 reared by this species are often of considerable mag- 

 nitude, and bear no small resemblance to a rook's nest 

 thrown upon the ground bottom upwards. They oc- 

 cur in abundance in the woods near London, and in 

 many other parts of the country : in Oak of Honour 

 wood alone, we are acquainted with the localities of 

 at least two dozen, — some in the interior, and others 

 on the hedge-banks on the outskirts of the wood.* 



The exterior of the nest is composed of almost 

 every transportable material which the colonists can 

 find in their vicinity : but the greater portion con- 

 sists of the stems of withered grass and short twigs of 

 trees, piled up in apparent confusion, but with suffi- 

 cient regularity to render the whole smooth, conical, 

 and sloping towards the base, for the purpose, we 



\may infer, of carrying off rain-water. When within 

 reach of a corn-field, they often also pick up grains 

 of wheat, barley, or oats, and carry them to the nest 



