ant, aunt, amt, amet, emet, emmet

[According to Junius, the Eng. word ant is derived from Eng. emmet, A.S. cemette; Trench considering the succe ive steps of the proce to have been emmet, emet, amet, amt, and ant. (Trench: Eng. Past and Present, pp. 198 to 200.) A.S. cemete, cemette, @metta, amytta, emete, emette; Ger. ameise.] 1. Ord. Lang. & Entom. The name given to certain small, but singularly intelligent and industrious insects well known in this and other lands. They are cla ed by naturalists under Heterogyna, the first tribe of aculeated Hymenoptera. Ants live in society like the more common species of wasps and bees. Like them also, their polity consists of three kinds of individuals, males, females, and neuters, the last-named being probably abortively-formed females. The males are winged during the whole course of their existence, the females only during the pairing season, and the neuters not at all. The males and females meet not on the ground, but in the air. Soon afterwards the males, which cannot do much for themselves, having neither stings nor even mandibles, perish of cold or other hardships. The females, on the contrary, immediately after meeting with the other sex in the air, lose or actually pull off their wings, are found by neuters, and become the object of their tender care. The neuters are the most numerous cla of ants, and do nearly the whole work of the community. Specially, they carry the eggs, the larvæ, and the cocoons from place to place in the nest, as the temperature and moisture vary; they feed the larvæ with liquid disgorged from the stomach, and besides open the cocoons for them when they are ready to emerge as perfect insects. Hence the neuters are sometimes called workers or nurse -ants. Sir John Lubbock says that ants can distinguish colors, being particularly sensitive to violet. They have very delicate smell, but apparently no hearing. The different species present curious analogies to the earlier stages of human progre -the hunting and pastoral, and even the agricultural-as has been noted by several authorities. There are various genera and species of ants, differing in habits and methods of operation. Some, like For mica sanguinaria and F. cæspitum , have been called Mining-ants; others, as F. flava , produce a kind of masonry; while F. rufa , the Wood-ant, similarly addre es itself to carpentry. Finally, some ants keep aphides as graziers do milch cows, on account of a secretion which they yield; and others hold slaves, the eggs, larvæ, and pupæ of which they have captured in war. Of these the most notable is the Amazon-ant. [AMAZON, No. 4. See also HETEROGYNA, FORMICA, MYRMICA ATTA, .] The ant of Scripture, Heb. נִמָלָה )nemālāk(, Sept. μύρμηξ (murmex), Vulg. formica , seems correctly translated. "Go to the ant , thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."- Prov . vi. 6.."-Prov. "The ants are a people not strong, XXX. 25. 2. Popularly : The White Ant [TERMITES], which is not a genuine ant at all, but a neuropterous insect. [ANTHILL.]