
382 THE INSECT WORLD. 
by the combustion of ligneous and amylaceous matters. Thei 
whole body is impregnated with this acid, and has a strong sou 
smell. Some people like to chew ants, on account of their souris| 
taste. ‘They also make,” says Charles de Geer, “creams fo: 
side dishes, to which these ants give, they say, the taste of lemon 
juice.” We know, in the south of France, people who hav 
eaten these crémes aux fourmis! Polyergus forms a sub-genus ti 
Lormica. 
In all these species, the workers, or neuters, have the charg 

Fig. 361.—Sections of an Ants’ Nest. 
of the building, provisioning, and rearing of the larvee, in fact. 
all the care of the household, and the defence of the nest. 
Deprived of wings, they are bound to the soil, and condemned te 
work. As compensation, to them belong strength, authority 
power: nothing is done but through them. “Born protectors o 
an immense family still in the cradle,” says M. Victor Rendu, “by 
their vigilance, their tenderness, and their solicitude, without 

