CONTENTS. 



Introduction 9 



General considerations 10 



History and distribution 11 



Introduction into Louisiana 12 



Present distribution in the Southern States 14 



Occurrence and distribution in California 15 



Area of ultimate infestation 16 



Common name 18 



Means of dispersion 19 



Natural spread 19 



FUght 19 



Dispersion by streams 20 



Artificial dissemination 20 



Economic importance 22 



Systematic position 26 



Description of the species 27 



Resemblance to other ants 30 



Methods of study 32 



EstabUsliing colonies for study 36 



Life history 38 



The egg 38 



Period of incubation 39 



The larva ., 40 



Duration of the larval stage - 41 



The pupa 42 



The worker pupa 42 



The male pupa 43 



The queen pupa 44 



The callow or teneral stage 45 



Time required for complete development - - - 45 



The adults 46 



The worker 46 



Length of life 47 



The male 47 



The queen 48 



The virgin queen 48 



The deiilated, or fertile, queen 49 



The colony as a whole 51 



Seasonal history 51 



Winter colonies 51 



Summer colonies 52 



Compound colonies or communities 54 



5 



