ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE. 



25 



numbers as to cause their death. Repellents which can be adapted 

 to such a case are rare, even pyrethrum powder being practically 

 ineffective. The only substance we have found which would at all 

 protect the sitting hens is zenoleum powder, liberally sprinkled 

 in the nest and among the hen's feathers from tune to time 

 durmg the brooding period. The nests of many birds are 

 frequented by the ants in the same way, and the number of 

 young birds destroyed in this manner must be considerable. The 

 ubiquitous English spar- 

 low, however, seems to 

 flourish, as ever, in spite 

 of the ants. 



Another form of injury, 

 though indirect, is due to 

 the antagonism which ex- 

 ists between the Argentine 

 ant and other species of 

 ants, and which terminates 

 only with annihilation of 

 the native species. As the 

 result of this, beneficial 

 s])ecies of ants (such as the 

 "fire ant," Solenopsisgemi- 

 nata, which destroys a con- 

 siderable number of boll 

 weevils m their immature 

 stages) are exterminated, 

 and their place is taken by 

 the infuiitely more trouble- 

 some Argentine ant. 



It may presently be 

 found that the Argentine 

 ant is an important agent 

 in the spread of disease. 



The workers COno'reo'ate in ^'^- -l.— Sugar-cane meal5--bugs on sugar cane. (Original.) 



great numbers around garbage pails, privies, etc., and are frequently 

 very hard to keep out of sick rooms, the odors seeming to attract them. 

 They have been watched busily carrying away the sputum of a negi-o 

 wlio was suffering from tuberculosis. There are many ways in 

 which it is possible for these ants to assist in the distribution of 

 various disease-producing organisms. 



Rarely the activities of this ant take on a beneficial aspect. Father 

 Biever states that they have in many cases completely exterminated 

 the bedbugs in the hovels and tenements occupied by poor people in 

 the city of New Orleans. The same authority several years ago 



