October, '09] JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 339 



of the colonies that may be exposed, but all of them are more ex- 

 pensive than the crude oil. 



Colonies which are located in inaccessible situations can, by patient 

 work, be coaxed into domiciles where they may be destroyed. Decay- 

 ing wood is par excellence the favorite nesting place of the species. 

 Coupled with this is the habit repeatedly shown of colonies moving 

 into close proximity to any constant source of food. Many colonies 

 are therefore effectively destroyed by placing pieces of decaying logs 

 here and there in shaded locations and placing beside each one a small 

 jar of honey or sugar, its top covered with wire cloth to prevent the 

 contents being removed by bees and other large insects. This at- 

 tractive nesting place is shortly occupied by a colony of the ants and 

 the latter is then destroyed in toto by submerging the entire block 

 of wood in a pail or tub of boiling hot water, after which it is "re- 

 set" to attract another colony. 



These measures, involving as they do considerable labor and time, 

 are not likely to be applicable in orchards or over large cultivated 

 areas, but on the small city lot where protection from the ants must 

 be secured or the premises vacated, they are far better than no meth- 

 ods at all. 



Poisoning the Ants 



As pointed out above, the use of poisons cannot afford satisfactory 

 relief unless the poison used is one which will destroy larvae and work- 

 ers, as well as queens, within the colony. To meet this requirement 

 the poison must be fatal but must act so slowly when contained within 

 the insect stomach that it will not kill the foraging workers ere they 

 can transport it to the nest and there deliver it to other members of 

 the colony. Our efforts to secure a poison meeting this requirement 

 have met with only indifferent success, the following possessing some 

 little merit in this direction: One part, by measure, of paste lead 

 arsenate is thoroughly ground with pestle and mortar with twice its 

 bulk of pulverized sugar. This forms a liquid which in turn is mixed 

 with an equal bulk of honey and the whole mass thoroughly ground 

 and mixed. Another mixture, nearly as good, is made by thoroughly 

 mixing one part of powdered arsenate of lead with five or six parts of 

 honey. This is placed in small dishes where the workers can help 

 themselves and when, after a few days, they cease to work on it, it is 

 removed to a new location. When poison of this character is moved 

 even a few inches, the ants seem not to recognize it as dangerous and 

 attack it with renewed energy. In an experiment with the mixture 

 of honey and powdered arsenate of lead a colony was permitted to 

 choose as it pleased from the poisonous mixture and from non-poisoned 



