76 THE ARGENTINE ANT. 



was then fed in abundance to foraging workers. Subsequent exami- 

 nation of the colonies receiving this infected material failed to show 

 any mdication of the disease. 



No attempt was made to experiment with this disease under labora- 

 tory conditions, on account of the danger of accidentally infectmg 

 honey bees in the neighborhood. 



LOW TEMPER ATITRES. 



The winter temperatures experienced at Baton Rouge, La., seemed 

 not to produce any appreciable mortality among the ants. During 

 the winter of 1909-10 a colony at Baton Rouge was kept out of doors 

 all winter with no other protection than the plaster of Paris walls of 

 the cage in wliich it was confined. This colony successfully with- 

 stood a temperature of 22° F., the lowest temperature recorded 

 during the winter. It is safe to assume that in their underground 

 nests and in well-protected situations they can withstand a nuich 

 lower degree of cold than this. 



FLOODS. 



Heavy rains appear to be the only meteorological phenomena 

 which produce any appreciable effect upon the jVi-gentine ants, but 

 even in this connection it is worthy of note that the most heavUy 

 infested sections at present are within regions of exceedingly heavy 

 annual rainfall. 



After sudden severe rainstorms it was noticed that the ditches and 

 drains at Baton Rouge and New Orleans contained thousands of the 

 dead ants, evidently washed from trees and ground before they could 

 reach a place of safety. The sudden rising of flood waters over low- 

 lands would appear to destroy many colonies and the larva? in tliom, 

 yet, strange to say, the batture along the Mississippi River, wliich is 

 annually covered for several weeks with several feet of water, con- 

 tinues to be an area of approximately maximum infestation. So 

 facile are the ants in migrating to liigher grounds or in ascending 

 trees, taking wath them aU larvae and pupae, that it is likely that the 

 mortahty from tliis source is much less than would be expected. 

 The mere destruction of foraging workers by rains does not effect any 

 appreciable dmiinution in the rate of increase since, if the colonies 

 themselves remain unharmed, the deposition of eggs and the rearing 

 of more workers continues unabated. 



METHODS OF REPRESSION. 



It is as a household pest that the Argentine ant has forced itself 

 most into prominence, particularly in the infested cities and towns, 

 although it is doubtfid if the financial loss due to its inroads in this 



