CHAPTER XIII 

 INSECT TYPE PROBLEMS: ANTS 



No other group of animals presents such a maze of fascinating problems 

 to the biologist, psychologist, and sociologist. WHEELER, "Ants," p. 11 



If I had to choose the form in which I would prefer to live again, I am 

 not sure that I should not like to be an ant. You see that little insect lives 

 under the conditions of perfect political organization. Every ant is obliged 

 to work, to lead a useful life ; every one is industrious. There is perfect 

 subordination to the good of all, discipline and order. They are happy, for 

 they work. BISMARCK 



Economic importance. Over a thousand species of ants have 

 been described, of which about two hundred belong to North 

 America. As a group they are generally considered distinctly 

 beneficial insects, though among so many species it is not 

 strange that a few are injurious. Forel counted 28 dead in- 

 sects per minute brought in by the foragers of a large colony, 

 and estimated that this colony collected 100,000 insects per 

 day. In China live ants are an article of commerce and are 

 regularly used to control injurious insects in gardens and 

 orchards. The Department of Agriculture has recently tried 

 the experiment of importing a Guatemalan ant, the kelep, in 

 the hope of discovering an effective enemy of the cotton-boll 

 weevil. Observations of ants attacking injurious insects should 

 be carefully recorded and reported to the class. 



Many species burrow deep into the earth, opening up the 

 soil to air and moisture and preparing it for easy penetration 

 of roots, and bring quantities of fine subsoil to the surface. 

 In this way ants supplement the work of earthworms in the 

 formation of vegetable mold. 



141 



