10 



ANTS. 



lu the second Bulletin issued by this Station, an account was given 

 of experiments made for the destruction of ants in lawns and walks, 

 but no methods were given for those that tind their way into houses 

 and become an intolerable nuisance because of their desire for sugar 

 and other sweets. These are more frequently the small species, but 

 what they lack in size the}'^' usually make up for in numbers. I am in- 

 clined to the opinion that they enter the houses and discover the covet- 

 ed articles by chance ; that their scouts, in exploring, find these arti- 

 cles, not by keen sight or smell, but by mere accident. When one has 

 found some choice dainty, she — these wingless workers are undevel- 

 oped females, not neuters as some have supposed — sips her fill and at 

 once starts for home, where, by some moans, she communicates the 

 information of the locality of untold treasures to others, which return 

 with her, and they in turn appear to spread the information on their 

 return home, and soon the throngs that come and go are sufficient to 

 disturb the most amiable of housekeepers. Various remedies have 

 been suggested, one of which is to draw a chalk mark on the floor 

 around the sugar barrels or other articles to be protected from tbem.~ 

 It is undoubtedly true that ants travel in a regular beaten track, as 

 it were, by tlie sense of smell, and if this be removed from the ground 

 over which they travel, they are at a loss, and oft(Mi wander around 

 for some time before they find the trail again. They may he thrown 

 off the trail by drawing a chalk mark or even the finger across it. This 

 is only a temporary protection, however, for sooner or hiter they will 

 find their way across and then travel goes on as uninterruptedly as 

 before. 



It has been recommended to sprinkle sugar into a sponge and place 

 it in their path, and as it fills up with ants several times a day, im- 

 merse it in hot water to kill those adhering to it. This will un- 

 doubtedly prove successful if carefully followed up for some time ; 

 but when we remember that the females are constantly laying eggs 

 to produce workers which will take the places of those already de- 

 stroyed, the task seems almost hopeless. 



There can be no doubt that a better method would be to follow the 

 ants carefully, and discover, if possible where their nest is, and then 

 destroy the entire community by making one or more holes down 

 through the nest, and then pouring in a teaspoonful of bisulphide of 

 carbon, carefully stamping down the ground afterwards to close the 

 holes. The fumes of this substance will penetrate the nest in all di- 

 rections, and destroy the entire community. 



