How to Use formic acid in a Sentence

formic acid

noun

• Many animals have projectile weapons: some ants can spray formic acid; the bombardier beetles can spew immobilising glue.
  — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 15 Dec. 2011
• First, the Formica ants squirt the trap-jaw ants with a stream of formic acid that stuns them.
  — Rachel Becker, The Verge, 18 Nov. 2018
• Wood ants use the same formic acid that the garden ants use to clean their nests and battle their prey.
  — Sophie Putka, Discover Magazine, 13 July 2020
• Some, like formic acid, work well to penetrate the caps of broods and kill infant mites.
  — Monica Cull, Discover Magazine, 29 June 2022
• The formic acid that provides their main defense is no defense.
  — John Anderson, WSJ, 1 Nov. 2022
• When attacked, the ants bite and excrete formic acid through the end of their abdomen, using it like venom.
  — Corryn Wetzel, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Apr. 2022
• Both strategies allow the body to excrete the methanol before it’s turned into formic acid.
  — Carrie Arnold, National Geographic, 19 Aug. 2020
• Hart tells the Guardian that the birds can appear drunk after eating just a few of the insects, perhaps as a result of the formic acid found in the ants’ bodies.
  — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 20 July 2019
• Methanol is metabolized to formaldehyde, then to formic acid inside the body.
  — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 6 July 2020
• Inside the body, methanol is metabolized to formaldehyde, then to formic acid.
  — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 23 June 2020
• Or is it applied topically, like the formic acid birds use to treat blood-sucking bird lice?
  — Jesse Hawley, Discover Magazine, 6 Jan. 2021
• When the Formica ants attack, the high-speed video would show these really quick bursts of formic acid being sprayed from their abdomens and splattering on the trap-jaw ants.
  — Rachel Becker, The Verge, 18 Nov. 2018
• Many ant species produce a poisonous substance within their venom gland called formic acid.
  — Sophie Putka, Discover Magazine, 13 July 2020
• Different species might sting their enemies, bite them with powerful jaws or shoot them with jets of formic acid.
  — Cara Giaimo, New York Times, 13 Mar. 2020
• After helping to make important proteins, formaldehyde gets turned into formic acid and exits the body through urine.
  — Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, 27 Jan. 2017
• Sharp, slightly vinegary formic acid is the one-carbon volatile acid, a chemical weapon found in ants and other insects but turned against them by the anteater, which relies on it to help digest them.
  — Harold McGee, WSJ, 24 Oct. 2020
• Gang of ants kill the island's iconic red land crabs by spraying them with formic acid; the crabs' annual migration, when millions of them scuttle to the sea, has been called one of the natural wonders of the world.
  — Discover Magazine, 29 June 2010
• Thymol, and other naturally occurring miticides like oxalic acid, formic acid and hops, are used in current treatments in the form of strips or trays that go inside the hive.
  — Michelle Cohan, CNN, 17 Nov. 2022
• According to the Cleveland Clinic, a biting ant will grab you with its pincers and release a chemical irritant called formic acid into your skin.
  — Shanti Lerner, The Arizona Republic, 22 July 2022
• By using glycerol, Kenis says that his team was able to reduce the overpotential in that part of their system by nearly two-thirds and churn out formic acid, which is widely used in chemical synthesis.
  — Robert Service, Science | AAAS, 1 Sep. 2017
• Within a few years, Snyder and other radio astronomers had identified dozens of organic molecules, including formic acid (which causes the sting in ant bites) and methanol (a simple alcohol).
  — Andrew Grant, Discover Magazine, 31 Jan. 2011
• Scientists have created a way to convert carbon dioxide, an important greenhouse gas, into formic acid.
  — Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 4 Sep. 2019
• Instead of becoming a harmless chemical building block, the body metabolizes methanol into toxic formic acid.
  — Carrie Arnold, National Geographic, 19 Aug. 2020
• Entry uses potassium formate, derived from formic acid, a common and easily-synthesized compound.
  — Joseph N. Distefano, Philly.com, 6 Mar. 2018

Last Updated: 12 Dec 2024