4 FARMERS’ BULLETIN 1740. 
tropical America, and are potential house pests. One of these, Phei- 
dole megacephala, was formerly the important house ant of Madeira, | 
occurring in prodigious numbers throughout the southern portion of 
the island and up to an elevation of 1,000 feet, nesting out of doors 
under nearly every stone, and in houses generally. It is stated also 
that this ant is very common in the Bermudas and West Indies and 
will probably be found in Florida, and that wherever it gains foot- 
hold in subtropical countries it is able to propagate very rapidly and 
Fic, 2.—The little red or Pharaoh’s ant (Monomorium pharaonis) ; a, Queen or female; 
b, worker. Both drawings enlarged to the same scale. (Original.) 
to exterminate the indigenous ant fauna; in fact, several instances 
of this kind have been noted. This ant, on the other hand, has itself 
lately been driven out and practically exterminated in Madeira by 
the Argentine ant,’ which latter ant has also, in New Orleans and 
elsewhere in the United States, similarly displaced our native ants. 
As North American house ants, however, neither of these Old-World 
- harvester ants has so far assumed any importance, although both 
probably occur in Florida. 
1 Iridomyrmex humilis Mayr. 
