24 THE ARGENTINE ANT. 



abundant throughout the entire summer and autumn, whereas 

 during these portions of the year they are normally almost absent. 

 It is in the orange groves of southern Louisiana, however, that 

 this ant has probably inflicted the most serious injuiy. This mjury 

 is discussed at length on a subsequent page. Suffice it to say that 

 at present the Argentine ant is there regarded as the most serious 

 insect i)roblem, owing to the marked increase of scale insects which 

 follows its introduction and spread. The value of land in that 

 section depends to a considerable extent upon the presence or absence 

 of the Argentine ant. The ant also does considerable damage to the 

 fig crop by boring through the ripened fruit or entering the calyx end 

 f)f the ripening fig and tunneling the interior. It also assists in the 



Fig. 3.— Injuiy to the stand of sugar cane by the sugar-cane mealy-bug (Pseudococcus calceolarix), wliich 

 is attended by the Argentine ant. (Original.) 



increase of the destructive mealy-bug, Pseudococcus citri, which 

 injures figs to a considerable extent. 



The ant is a veritable plague among honey bees, and beekeeping 

 on any considerable scale is invariably abandoned after the ants 

 become numerous. 



In the })oultiy yard this ant is a pest that must be reckoned with. 

 The ants find the nests of sitting hens particularly attractive, and if 

 perchance an egg be broken the ants will come in such numbers that 

 the fowl will abandon her nest. The blood and fluids from partially 

 incubated embiyos are particularly liked by the ants, and when the 

 eggs are hatching the workers swarm over the young chicks in such 



