2 



The economic importauce of the white aut and its great powers for evil 

 has led to a great deal of correspondence coming to the Department of 

 Agriculture ; so that I think that a general summary of the work pre- 

 viously done would be of value to all classes of the public, if written with 

 few technical terms, giving suggestions for checking them, a general account 

 of their habits, and the numbers known to infest this country. It is very 

 unfortunate that the termites have become well known under the name of 

 " White Ants," because, with the exception of their peculiar social habits, 

 they are in no way related to the true ants {ForinicidcE), which are their 

 most deadly enemies, devouring them whenever they come across them. 

 There is no family of insects on the face of the earth that do more damage to 

 man's industry than the termites. From their countless numbers, sub- 

 terranean habits, and insidious method of attack, they are very diflScult 

 to destroy. Always coming up from below, shunning the light, they work 

 under cover, so that it is not until the damage is done that their presence 

 is noticed. They can eat the centre out of a board or beam until it is as 

 thin as paper, though outwardly perfectly sound until it is touched, when 

 an accidental bump or blow will crumple it up into papery fragments and 

 reveal damages beneath extending into unknown quarters all through the 

 woodwork. In the orchard or garden, plants apparently healthy a few 

 days before suddenly wilt and die. On examination, the stalk snaps oS 

 in one's hand, leaving a cavity on the butt; a few tiny yellow-headed 

 creatures scuttling down into the roots remaining in the ground give the 

 clue to the authors of the damage. 



In Australia, many thousands of pounds' worth of property are annually 

 destroyed by these insignificant-looking little creatures, and quite a 

 number of instances in the City of Sydney have come under my notice of 

 serious damage being done to public buildings ; Avhile in the suburbs they 

 are a constant source of worry to property-owners, particularly on the 

 North Shore line, where the land is comparatively high. 



The whole of the roof of one of the largest rooms in the Australian 

 Museum had to be replaced some years ago owing to the damage done to 

 it by white ants. In the Department of Education's buildings in Bridge- 

 street, the whole of the tioor of the Records' room was perforated by these 

 pests, and upon examination it was found that the termites had evidently 

 been at work for years, great masses of earth having been carried up and 

 packed between the joists. Within the last six months these pests have 

 been found in the basement of the Town Hall. It is worthy of remark 

 that in these three places recorded, Moreton Bay figs were growing close 

 to the buildings, and it is cjuite possible that their head-quarters are in 

 the roots of these trees ; so that trees in a city like Sydney might form a 

 regular home for white ants, and lead to them doing further damage. 



In houses in the suburbs of Sydney it is not an uncommon thing to find 

 the foot of the bed suddenly sink into the floor, where the white ants have 

 come up from beneath and eaten out the wood. 



