formic-, form-, -formic +

1. A reference to or being derived from ants.
2. Derived from formic acid, a type of chemical secreted by ants.

A colorless corrosive liquid compound with a penetrating odor, found in the bodies of ants and spiders, in the hairs and other parts of certain caterpillars, and in stinging nettles.

This substance as it occurs in living organisms produces the stinging sensation that results from the bite of red ants and is also found in spiders, in pine needles, as well as in stinging nettles.

Formic acid is made commercially by the reaction of carbon monoxide with sodium hydroxide and is used in dyeing and finishing textiles, treating leather, and producing fumigants, insecticides, and refrigerants.

Going back to the Latin word for "ant", it was first obtained in 1670 from the distillation of ants.

1. A genus (group) of ants of the family Formicidae (ants) and the subfamily Formicinae (ants), and in turn Formica's own type species is the European red wood ant Formica rufa.

Common names for this group are wood ant, mound ant, and field ant.

2. Social insects of the family Formicidae, characteristically having wings only in the males and fertile females and living in colonies that have complex social organizations.

Producing a tactile sensation on the skin; such as, the crawling of small insects like ants.

A small, feeble pulse likened to the movements of ants.

1. Relating to or resembling ants.
2. Plants which attract ants by means of sweet secretions.

Antbirds; a family containing about 240 species of small Neotropical passerine forest birds.

They are solitary, non-migratory, feed on insects; some species follow armies of ants to catch when they are flushed out; they nest in trees or on the ground; their beaks are usually strong and hooked; their wings are short and rounded, while their flight is weak.

Ants' nest, particularly an artificial arrangement for purposes of scientific study.

1. An ants' nest or ant-hill.
2. A nest of ants, consisting of galleries and chambers excavated in the earth and covered by a mound of debris (grass, sticks, etc.).

To swarm or to collect in swarms; such as, ants.

Ants having swarmed or collected in large groups all having moved together.

1. An itching sensation like the creeping of ants.
2. A form of paresthesia producing an itching sensation like that of ants running over the skin.

This is one of the more common side effects of cocaine withdrawal.

It is also an abnormal sensation or hallucination as of insects crawling in or on the skin; a common symptom in diseases of the spinal cord and the peripheral nerves.

A descriptive reference to a an abnormal subjective sensation of ants (or other small insects) creeping in or under a given skin area.

It is more commonly seen in patients in whom there is some organic agent; usually in the form of narcotic drugs (alcohol, cocaine, morphine, etc.).

1. Irritation caused by ant bites.
2. The itching, swollen condition following an ant bite or bites.

Ants; family of small aculeate (stinger) Hymenoptera (order of ants and other insects) all of which form perennial societies founded in nests made in rotten wood, crevices, plant cavities or in the soil.

Their nests contain one or more fertile, egg-laying queens, hundreds to millions of neuter workers, and seasonally produced fertile males (drones) which fertilize queens during mass nuptial flights.

They get their food as predators of arthropods or insects, as scavengers, or on nectar and honeydew; and the family contains about 14,000 species.