301 



'rii(> species is recorded under the name. I'hcldolc nu.siUa 

 lleer, with the remarks: 



"One of the eonmionest ants in Oahii, and pi'ohahlv else- 

 uliere. (T. B.)" 



"The honse-ant of ]\rad(>ira : and oceasionallv met with in 

 Eiiiiland. (W. F. K.)" 



1882. McCook, K. V. — Ants as beneficial insecticides. 

 Pr(X'. Acad. Nat. Sc. Phihid. 1882, 263-271. 



Tliis article- is a discussion of the practicahility of the use 

 , of ants for the destrnction of insect pests, as practiced in the 



(province of Canton, China. 

 The Chinese are said to protect their oranc;e trees from 

 dreaded pests bv importing- ants from neighl)oring' hills. Idie 

 growers themselves supply some ants, which prey upon the 

 enemies of the orange, but not in sufficient numbers ; and 

 resort is had to hill-peo])le, who, throughout the summer and 

 winter find the nests suspended from branches of bamboo and 

 various trees. There are two varieties of ants, red and yellow, 

 whose nests resemble cotton-bags. The collectors are supplied 

 with pig or goat bladders, which are baited inside with lard. 

 The orifices of these they apply to the entrance of nests, 

 when the ants enter the bags and become a marketable com- 

 iiiiidity at the orchards. Orange trees are colonized by deposit- 

 ing the ants on their upper branches, and to enable them to 

 Ipass from tree to tree all the trees of an orchard are connected 

 by bam])oo rods. 



The author discusses the subject under several heads, and 

 sums up : 



Even if the ant should not be as tractable for domestication 

 as her hymenopterous ally, the bee, and in spite of her occa- 

 sional forays upon oiir cupboards and crops, the ant is worthy 

 to stand at the head of insects beneficial to man. 



1899. Forel, A. — Plieidole megacephala Fab. Fauna lla- 

 waiiensis I, 118. 



"Hab. All the Islands from the coast to an elevation of 

 3.000 feet. Cosmopolitan." 



