Methyl alcohol has an aldehyde,commonly called formalin.
Oxidize that and you get formic acid, which was originally
gotten from destructive distillation of ants. Maybe formic acid is what makes ant bites hurt. (a guess).
From the internet:
* The limitations of celluloid led to the next major advance, known as "phenolic" or "phenol-formaldehyde" plastics. A chemist named Leo Hendrik Baekelund, a Belgian-born American living in New York state, was searching for an insulating shellac to coat wires in electric motors and generators. Baekelund found that mixtures of phenol (C6H5OH) and formaldehyde (HCOH) formed a sticky mass when mixed together and heated, and the mass became extremely hard if allowed to cool and dry.
Apparently demand for formica has dropped drastically.
I found a site that said principal producer is in Chap.11/