An´sted, David Thomas, an English geologist, born 1814, died 1880. He was professor of geology at King's College, London, and assistant-secretary to the Geological Society, whose quarterly journal he edited for many years.
An´ster, John, LL.D., professor of civil law in the University of Dublin, born in County Cork, 1793, died 1867. He published a volume of poems, but is chiefly known by his fine translation of Goethe's Faust, Part I, 1835; Part II, 1864.
An´stey, Christopher, an English poet, born 1724, died 1805. He was author of The New Bath Guide, a humorous and satirical production describing fashionable life at Bath in the form of a series of letters in different varieties of metre, which had a great reputation in its day, but is now almost forgotten.
Anstruther (an´struth-ėr; popularly an´stėr), Easter and Wester, two small royal and police burghs of Scotland, in Fifeshire, forming, with the contiguous royal burgh of Cellardyke or Nether Kilrenny, one fishing and seaport town. Total pop. (1921), 4641.
1. Egg. 2. Larva. 3. Cocoon of fine white silk. 4. Young ant, taken out of cocoon. 5. Male ant. 6. Female ant. 7. Worker ant. (All magnified.)
Ant, the common name of hymenopterous (or membranous-winged) insects of various genera, of the family Formicĭdæ, of which there are numerous species, at least 2000 being known. They are found in most temperate and tropical regions. They are small but powerful insects, and have long been noted for their remarkable intelligence and interesting habits. They are social insects, living in communities regulated by definite laws, each member of the society bearing a well-defined and separate part in the work of the colony. Each community consists of males; of females much larger than the males; and of barren females, otherwise called neuters, workers, or nurses. The neuters are wingless, and the males and females only acquire wings for their 'nuptial flight', after which the males perish, and the few females which escape the pursuit of their numerous enemies divest themselves of their wings, and either return to established nests, or become the foundresses of new colonies. The neuters perform all the labours of the ant-hill or abode of the community; they excavate the galleries, procure food, and feed the larvæ or young ants, which have not got organs of motion. In fine weather they carefully convey them to the surface for the benefit of the sun's heat, and as attentively carry them to a place of safety either when bad weather is threatened or the ant-hill is disturbed. In like manner they watch over the safety of the nymphs or pupæ about to acquire their perfect growth. Some communities possess a special type of neuters, known as 'soldiers', from the duties that specially fall upon them, and from their powerful biting jaws. There is a very considerable variety in the materials, size, and form of ant-hills, or nests, according to the peculiar nature or instinct of the species. Most of the British ants form nests in woods, fields, or gardens, their abodes being generally in the form of small mounds rising above the surface of the ground and containing numerous galleries and apartments. Some excavate nests in old tree-trunks. One little yellow ant (Myrmīca domestica) is common in houses in Britain in some localities. Some
ants live on animal food, very quickly picking quite clean the skeleton of any dead animal they may light on. Others live on saccharine matter, being very fond of the sweet substance, called honey-dew, which exudes from the bodies of aphides, or plant-lice. These they sometimes keep in their nests, and sometimes tend on the plants where they feed; sometimes they even superintend their breeding. By stroking the aphides with their antennæ they cause them to emit the sweet fluid, which the ants then greedily sip up. Various other insects are looked after by ants in a similar manner, or are found in their nests. It has been observed that some species, like the European Red Ant (Formīca sanguinĕa), resort to violence to obtain working ants of other species for their own use, plundering the nests of suitable kinds of their larvæ and pupæ, which they carry off to their own nests to be carefully reared and kept as slaves. In temperate countries male and female ants survive, at most, till autumn, or to the commencement of cool weather, though a very large proportion of them cease to exist long previous to that time. The neuters pass the winter in a state of torpor, and of course require no food. The only time when they require food is during the season of activity, when they have a vast number of young to feed. Some ants of Southern Europe feed on grain, and store it up in their nests for use when required. Some species have stings as weapons, others only their powerful mandibles, or an acrid and pungent fluid (formic acid) which they can emit. The name ant is also given to the neuropterous insects otherwise called Termites (q.v.). Bibliography: Lord Avebury (Sir John Lubbock), Ants, Bees, and Wasps; H. W. Bates, A Naturalist on the Amazons; Cambridge Natural History.
Antac´id, an alkali, or any remedy for acidity in the stomach. Dyspepsia and diarrhœa are the diseases in which antacids are chiefly employed. The principal antacids in use are magnesia, lime, and their carbonates, and the carbonates of potash and soda.
Antæ´us, the giant son of Poseidon (Neptune) and Gē (the Earth), who was invincible so long as he was in contact with the earth. Heracles (Hercules) grasped him in his arms and stifled him suspended in the air, thus preventing him from touching the earth.