Ameisensäure
Formic acid is named after ants which have high concentrations of the compound in their venom. In ants, formic acid is derived from serine through a 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate intermediate. The conjugate base of formic acid, formate, also occurs widely in nature. An assay for formic acid in body fluids, designed for determination of formate after methanol poisoning, is based on the reaction of formate with bacterial formate dehydrogenase.