86 
The Hiflory If ANIMALS. 
yellow fafcias on the bedy. 15. The great, black Humble-bee, with a white tail, and 
with three tranfverfe lines of yellow on the body. 16. The fhining, black Humble- 
bee, with a white tail, and the Tides of the body toward the hinder part white. 17. 
The great, black Humble-bee, with the whole body fmooth. 18. The great,* black 
Humble-bee, with a white tail, and with two tranfverfe lines of yellow on the bo¬ 
dy. 19. The great, black Humble-bee, with a tawny fafcia round the body, and 
another on the thorax. 20. The black Humble-bee, with two fafci® on the under 
part of the body j the one broad and yellowilh, the other narrow and white. 
FORMICA. 
T HERE is in the Formica an ere<ft fquamma or fcaly body, placed between the 
. thorax and the body : the mules, as they are called, or the ants of no fex, have 
no wings. 
Formica maxima. 
The largejl Formica . 
SCbt great 3Cnt, 0 ? 
This is the largeft of all the ant kind, and is nearly of twice the fize of the 
common fpecies: the head is black ; the thorax is of a dufky, ferrugineous colour ir\ 
general, but it becomes black toward the hinder part, and it’s extremity is white : the 
legs are ferrugineous j the fquamma, which is placed between the body and the tho¬ 
rax, is of a rounded oval figure, pointed at the top, and undivided: the body is 
brown, and confifts of five fegments. 
It is common with us in woods, where it ufually lives in the hollow trunks of de¬ 
cayed trees. Authors call it Formica maxima, and Hippo murmex. 
Formica rubra minima . 
The little , red Formica . 
Xlje res %nt. 
This fpecies is as much fmaller than the common ant, as the firft is larger: it’s 
head is Very fmall; it’s thorax is bulky, and the fquamma which feparates that from 
the body Is of a roundifh figure, and ilightly dentated: the legs are flender 5 the wings 
are very thin and brownifh. 
It is not uncommon in the hilly and dry paftures among the grafs, and on the 
leaves and ftalks of the fmaller plants. 
Formica minor atra. 
The little, black Formica . 
Wacfc 
This is of a middle fize, between the common and the little red Ant: it’s head is 
large, in proportion to the body : the thorax is flatted, and the body joined to it at a 
diftance : the fquamma, which feparates them, is of an oval figure, and undivided at 
the edges: the legs are longer and flenderer than in any other fpecies. 
It is not uncommon with us on heaths, and in dry paftures. 
The other fpecies of the Formica are, 1. The common Ant or Pifmire. 2. The 
large, brown Ant. 3. The great, yellowifh Ant of the Eaft Indies. 4. The great, 
black Ant, with a fmall head. 5. The large American red and black Ant. 
Among the ants, as among the bees, and many other of the gregarious Infedts, 
fome of the fame fpecies are males, others females, and others of neither fex. The two 
firft, in all thefe cafes, are few in proportion j the others make up the number. 
Among the bees, the males are what we call drones, and are three or four hundred in 
a fwarm: the female is often only one in the fwarm, fometimes two, rarely more. 
The drones or males are deftroyed by the working bees, as foon as the time of impreg¬ 
nating the female is over; and, among the ants, even the females are denied a place in 
the fwarm. The males and females in the common ant have both wings, but the 
ants which make the fwarm, and do the whole bufinels, have none : the females 
are largeft of all; the males are of a middle fize, and the working or neutral ants are 
much fmaller than the males: thefe keep pofiefiion of their habitation, and as foon as 
the bufinefs of impregnation of the females, and laying the eggs, is over, they drive 
both the males and females from among them, . _ 
- - INSECTS, 
