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3. Surface structure
Hair: The hairy structures are roughly divided into epithelial and dermal types. For the purpose of classifying ants, it is more important whether the hair is standing or lying down, thick or thin, long or short, etc. The presence or absence of hair on particular sites and the presence or absence of special types of hair (multi-branched, lepidic, spatula-shaped, etc.) is taxonomically important.
Sculpture: Various irregularities are visible on the surfaces of ants, including punctures, mesh-like elevations, wrinkled elevations and striations. These are collectively called sculptures. Although our identification key does not include graphic representations of sculpture, sculpture is important for the identification of species, because the ants of one species show the almost same sculpture pattern.
(Comments by Kazuo Ogata)