THE ANIMAL LIFE OF THE GROUP. 403 



manner as to exclude the light. In this hidden way they do a great many 

 thousand dollars' worth of damage to houses in Hawaii every year. In some 

 cases the heart of the timbers that formed the building have been so badly 

 eaten that in time the structure has actually fallen in pieces, leaving only a 

 sad heap of ruins as a monument to the silent industry of these destructive 

 creatures. 



Sn^VERPISH. 



Silvertish, h.sh-motlis, or l)ristletails '■'" are everywhere household pests, 

 and Hawaii is not an exception. The small, flat, silver_y object without wings 

 that scurries out of .sight in the dresser drawer or on the book-shelf is sure to 

 be one of these evildoers that cannot resist the taste of starch, no matter 

 whether it be in clothing, book-bindings or wall-paper. In structure the silver- 

 fish represents the simplest type of insects, and is peculiar for the reason that 

 it does not go through any marked changes 9" as it develops. It is therefore 

 placed by entomologists in the lowest, meaning the oldest and most simple, 

 order •'*' of insects. 



Ants. 



As types of the highest development and specialization in the insect world, 

 the ants, bees and wasps are ])]aced together in a great order "® at the opposite 

 end of the scale from that oeeu|iied by the silverfish. The ants, the bees and 

 the wasps each furnish the housewife one or more pests to annoy her. Of 

 these, the ant family i"^** furnish a nunibei'. tlu^ most troublesome being the 

 cosmopolitan big-headed ant '"' that invades every nook and corner of the 

 hou.se and considers the food-safe and iee-bo.x as institutions especially pro- 

 vided for its comfort and convenience. They will not cross ^vater, however, 

 so the experienced housewife places the legs of the ice-box in shallow cups 

 filled with water and takes pains to keep the box clear of the wall. The table, 

 safe antl sidel:)oard can lie ('(|ually well protected for months at a time by tying 

 about each leg a narrow strip of woolen cloth, wliieh has Wen soaked with 

 "ant poison." a preparation sold by the druggist for the p\irpose. The ants 

 respect the poisoned string as a dead-line and rarely pass beyond it. Another 

 common species is the big brown ant'"- observed swarming on warm, still 

 nights, when all forms issue in great numbers. 



C.vrfenter-Bees. 



Of the bees, the ljhie-l)lack carpenter-bee,"'-' which resemliles the bunilile- 

 bee in size and somewhat in appearance, is conspiciious and troublesome in 

 Hawaii by reason of its habit of building its cells in the solid wood of trees, 

 porch posts, fence posts, telephone poles and the like. It often excavates a 

 tunnel a foot or two in length in which it lavs its eggs. Each egg is contained 



' Lephwa sacchariiia. "^ Met.TmnrpllHsis. "l Thi/sanura. "« Uumennplfra. "" FormiViiin. 



^ Fheidole megni-tphiihi. ^»-^ Cam imintiis niaciihitiii:, var. hawaiii-iisis. '^"3 Xi/loroim hrnsilianoruii 



