Louisiana — Circular No. 13. 



THE NEW ORLEANS ANT.* 



I wish to call the attention of this Commission to an intro- 

 duced insect enemy that promises within a few years to do enor- 

 mous damage to the agriculural interests of this State, and 

 v.'hich at the same time is going- to present a most difficult prob- 

 lem for solution. I refer to the so-called "New Orleans ant," 

 which is already a bad household pest in New Orleans and 

 Baton Rouge, and which has already spread to the towns of 

 Alexandria, Lafayette and Lake Charles and to intermediate 

 territory. This ant cares for and permits the increase of almost 

 every species of plant louse and scale insect, and as the indirect 

 result of its presence thousands of trees and plants in the city 

 of New Orleans have already been killed. The ant does not 

 confine itself to facilitating the increase of other injurious 

 insects, but is itself injurious. The present spring it has de- 

 stroyed the entire prospective orange crop at Audubon Park, 

 by eating the fruit buds, and last year was the cause of heavy 

 losses to orange growers through Plaquemines and adjacent 

 parishes. It is also guilty of causing the increase of the "poo-a- 

 push, "t an insect very injurious to sugar cane. Unless measures 

 are found for the control of this pest, the orange industry of the 

 State is doomed, and eventually the success of the sugar cane 

 industry is likely to be threatened by it. All fruit industries 

 will suffer from its presence. As it destroys or drives out all 

 native species of ants, its appearance in the cotton fields is not 

 unlikely to result in increased damage by the boll weevil. The 

 most active enemy which the boll weevil has in Louisiana is the 

 small "fire ant, "t and the latter may possibly be exterminated 

 01- driven out of the cotton fields by the "New Orleans ant." 



We have no funds with which to inaugurate an investi^'ation 

 of this pest or to find methods of control, but unless steps are 

 taken very shortly against it, the agricultural interests of the 

 State will pay toll to it to the extent of many hundreds of thou- 

 sands of dollars. 



* Iridiomyrmex humilis Mayr. 



t Dactylopius sp. 



X Solenopsis rjeminata Fab., var. 



