. Ants; their structure, development and behavior. absent in the males of many genera. The malesand females of most species, however, exhibit a greater simplificationof the pleural region of the thorax, owing to the fusion of the epimeraand episterna with each other and often also with the sterna in themeso- and metathorax, and a very intimate fusion of the epinotum withthe latter segment. Turning to the workers, which are wingless, there is noticeable agreat reduction in the size of the meso- and metathorax [>lns the epi-notum, so that the three divisions of the thorax are more nearly ofun
. Ants; their structure, development and behavior. absent in the males of many genera. The malesand females of most species, however, exhibit a greater simplificationof the pleural region of the thorax, owing to the fusion of the epimeraand episterna with each other and often also with the sterna in themeso- and metathorax, and a very intimate fusion of the epinotum withthe latter segment. Turning to the workers, which are wingless, there is noticeable agreat reduction in the size of the meso- and metathorax [>lns the epi-notum, so that the three divisions of the thorax are more nearly ofuniform size (Fig. 8, C, Fig. 9, a). In certain species, and especiallyin the ergatoid females ( Fig. 8, B) and soldiers of a few genera, thevarious dorsal elements, such as the paraptera, scutellum and meta- THE EXTERNAL STRUCTURE OF AXTS. 33 notum may still be recognized as very small sclerites, but in the workersof the highest and most specialized ants of the genera Formica andCainponotns the thorax appears to consist of three similar FIG. 8. Thorax of female, ergatoid and worker Ponerine ants in profile. (Emery.)A, Myrmecia pyriformis, dealated female ; B, M. spadicca, ergatoid female : C, , worker ; msn, mesonotum ; the remaining letters the same as in Figs. 6 and 7. owing to the disappearance of the scutellum, paraptera and metanotumas separate sclerites and to the fusion of the various elements in thepleural region of each segment. The legs of the ant show much less variation in structure than the a
Size: 2084px × 1199px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectants, bookyear1910
