374 



APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY 



Pouring carbon disulfid or benzine into these and then stopping the 

 holes with putty or mud is in most cases, sufficient to kill the queen, and 

 in consequence, the colony. 



Ants in lawns or elsewhere may make mounds (Fig. 388) or may 

 simply loosen the soil and more or less injure the grass at such places. 

 To destroy such nests a stick, such as a cane or a broom handle, should be 

 driven down to the bottom of the nest, at which point the loosened earth 

 ends and driving becomes hard. These holes should be about a foot 



Fig. 388. — Ant hills. {From a photograph by H. B. Peirson.) 



apart and enough of them be made to cover the entire surface of the nest 

 at this distance. Into each hole a tablespoonful or two of carbon di- 

 sulfid is now poured and each opening closed at the top, which is suffi- 

 ciently done by pressing the earth together at each hole with the foot. 

 The carbon disulfid gas penetrating through the underground galleries 

 of the ants will kill them, including the queen, and the colony will 

 disappear. 



This treatment should be applied on a warm, dry day, to hasten the 

 change of the liquid to the gas and its rapid dissemination through all 

 parts of the nest. 



