ANTS ARE USEFUL TO MAN 183 



wanted it. Some of the upper rooms are ventilated through 

 the loose dirt. See what you did? We had sun-parlors 

 under that crust. 



Ants Are Useful to Man. 



KENNETH. You don't bother man, but some ants do. 

 Some annoy him by what they eat, some by where they 

 nest, others by herding harmful insects, some by living in 

 his house or eating it up, and still others sting or bite him. 



DOROTHY. Do ants do more harm or more good to 

 man ? 



CECIL. I think they do much more good than harm, 

 and that some kinds should be protected by law. One 

 country does so. Our ants should be protected, and so 

 should any kind that destroy harmful ants. If I could 

 discover a kind that could destroy the Argentine ants, 

 many people would be happier than they are. 



ALBERT. We've named several uses before. Are there 

 others ? 



CECIL. The books say that in China orange growers 

 ship ants from the hills to destroy worms. Bridges are 

 made of bamboo rods from tree to tree for the ants to 

 cross on. Ants have too many uses to mention here. Man 

 has used ants as an object of study for thousands of years. 



ALBERT. Do most ants sting? 



ANT. In this country, about the home of man, only a 

 few kinds have stings large enough to bother him, and 

 many have none at all. 



KENNETH. The Fire ant around here can't sting us, but 

 others of the Southern States and a large Harvester of the 

 great plains and deserts of the Southwest have rather bad 

 stings. 



