12 2 



THE AGRICULTUKAL NEWS. 



April 18, 1908. 



INSECT NOTES. 



The Argentine Ant. 



At 'he twentieth annual meeting' of tlie American 

 Association ot Economic P^iitomologists, held at Chicago, 

 Illinois, on December 27 and '2.S, 1907, Mr. Wilmon 

 Newell presented a paper entitled ' Notes on the 

 habits of the Argentine or "New Orleans" ant 

 {Iriilomyrmcf liuimdis. Ma\r. ).' 



Mr. Xewell in hi.-; paper, which a|)i)eur.-^ in the Jniiiiinl 

 of EcoDomic Enioiitoldiii/, Vol. I, No. 1, e.xiircs.sfs tht- 

 cipinif>n that the entomological problem presented by the 

 occurrence of this ant in the Southern United State.-i is one 

 which will rank in magnitude alongside the problems 

 presented by the San .Jose scale, "gyp.sy moth, and cotton boll 

 weevil, but in marked contra.st to these it is not likely to 

 adnut of remedial measures being as ea.sily applied. 



The Argentine ant was first dcsci-ibed fi-oni material 

 collected near Buenos Ayre.s in LSGG. It does not appear to 

 have been mentioned in the literature of economic entomology 

 until 1904, when Mr. E. S. (J. Titus, of the Bureau of 

 Entomology, U.S. Department of Agriculture, visited New 

 Orleans and made observations on this in.sect, which were 

 puV)lished in Bulletin o.l of the I'lUreai; of Kntomology of the 

 Department of Agriculture. 



The date and mainiei- of introduction of the Argentine 

 ant into the States are largely conjeetured, but there seems to 

 be no doubt that New Orleans was the jilace of the first 

 introduction, and that coffee slips from Brazil were the means 

 by which this was brought about. The pest was known to 

 occui- in New Orleans in BS!)], and it is probable that it was 

 introduced sometime prior to that date. 



At the present time the infested district extends from 

 New Orleans, to a distance of aliout I'UO miles, along the 

 principal railroad lines. 



The Argentine ant has thu.s far attracted most attention 

 a.s a luarsehold pest. Its colonies aie to lie found under 

 houses, beneath outhouses, in comiiost heaps, in hollow 

 trees, and beneath the walls of dwellings, .\mong the 

 sulistances upon which this insect feeds are mentioned sugars 

 and .syrups of all kind.s, fresh meat, blood, lard, cream, fruit 

 juices, honey, cakes, and dead in.sects. 



The ants are alile to make their way o\cr the sui'face of 

 water for a short distance, .so that the precaution sometimes 

 adopted, of standing the legs of tables in bowls of water 

 has not proved a [irotection against them, and when kerosene 

 has been ad<led to the water, it has been found that the bodies 

 of the ants which were killed by the oil, seivcd in a short 

 time as a bridge by which the others were idjle to pass over 

 to I he table. 



.'\s an agricultural pot, llie .\rgentine ant has also 

 altraited considerable attention, by reason of its fondness 

 for the secretions of plant lie- and scale insects, and on 

 account of its direct attacks on the liuit, flowers, buds, and 

 seeds of many jilants. 



This ant is not a >tinging ant, but can bite severely. 

 It is not predaceous, but is very fierce and drives out or kills 

 other species of ant.s. 



It is in relation to the cane-growing indu.stry that this 

 aul [.lonuses to be of mo.st importance. The Argentine ant 

 ap[jears to be very fond of the mealy bug of the sugar-cane 

 i I's,iiil(in>rriix [D'ici;//oj>iH.''] ni/ivolai-iiif), and in this way its 

 presence in any district is a serious menace to cane cultiva- 

 tion. Wherever the ant is exceedingly abundant the mealy 

 bug of the cane is also found in large number. It appears 

 that the mealy bug is colonized by the ant on the plant cane.s, 

 this sometimes resulting in the complete destruction of the eyes 

 of young liuds where considerable damage is done. 



The cotton aphis is also protected and colonized by this 

 ant, and on this account the aphis will be less likely to be 

 controlled by its natural enemies and thus will become a more 

 serious pest of growing cotton. 



The remedies given are few. (.'arhon bisulphi<le is 

 effective in killing out coloiues in their nest.s, but unless the 

 work is performed almost simultaneously over large areas 

 it will not accomplish much good, since old nests are frequently 

 utilized by ants from adjacent colonies. Tapes .soaked in 

 corrosive sublimate, and cloths saturated with kerosene and 

 wrapped arfiund table legs, etc., serve as excellent liarriers to 

 the ant. 



At the })resent time the Argentine ant is not known to 

 occur in the W'est Indies, anil it Mill readily be seen that 

 every effort should be made to prevent its introduction. The 

 laws for the fumigation of imported plants, which [)rovide for 

 the fumigation of all ]ilants and jiackages, should prove effec- 

 tive in preventing the introduction of this ant in this way. 



ONION GROWING IN MONTSERRAT. 



.Siicce-ssfnl experiments in the cultivation of 

 onions have been carried on in Montserrat for some 

 years jiast. Seed has been obtained each year from 

 'J'eneriffe, the amount imported last year being 11)0 tb. 

 Onion jilots are under cultivation both at Grove and 

 Harris' Stations. At the latter station, however, the 

 soil appeared to be too heavy for the crop, which, it is 

 stated, gives better results on the lighter soils of the 

 island. 



The oniiHi bed at (!rove Station is ^^y acre in area. The 

 report loi- I'.KJIi 7 on the I'xperimental work carried otit, 

 states that I'.engal beans \\<'re planted on this plot in March. 

 By Se|itendicr thi.^ crop had formed a dense growth, which 

 wa,- cutlassed down and buried in the green state as manure. 



The onion seeds- were sown in October in raised bed.s, 

 the seedlings being transplanted out later into rows 1 foot 

 afiart, at a distance of 2 inches from plant to i)lant. The soil, 

 which i> rather light, was made firmer before planting by 

 treading it. 



Twidve barrels or 1,<I7'-' ll>. of cured onions, eijual to 

 a yield ot 1 (l,7L'(t lb. j)er acre, wei-c ol>tained from the plot. 

 I'.ight barrels of these were shipped, and realized a return of 

 ■jj;.'!!'.") per barrel, or '2\r/. per lb. The total cost of cultivation, 

 including .seed, was £L.5.'>'. t<(/. This represents a net return 

 of £91 11.V. 4(/. pQi' acre, which sutticiently indicates the 

 remnniM-ative nature of the crop, although, of course, the 

 limited market precludes the pos.sibility of its cultivation on 

 any extended scale. The cpiantity of oinon.s exported from 

 Montserrat in IIXK! amounted to' I'O.TGO lb., while -^O.-'ioO ft. 

 were shipped in 1907. l!ei)orts on the shipments state that 

 small onions are preferred on the market, and in order to 

 meet this demand, therefore, the seedlings sho\dd be pfintcd 

 very close together in the rows. 



