156 



A Novel Depredator of the Grape - Vine. 



burrows existed in the centre of tlie stem, more than two inches above 

 the point which liacl been at the level of the ground.* The sides and 

 ends of the cavities were of perfectly solid wood, with no indication of 

 rottenness. 



I believe this is the first time that any species of white ant has been 

 described as attacking living plants so as to cause their destruction. Even 

 this case seems somewhat anomalous : for it is doubtful whether, under 

 natural circumstances, they would multiply here to so great an extent, as 

 we have seen them in this greenhouse ; and more than questionable, whether, 

 out of it, they would attack the vine at all. Smeathman, indeed, asserts 

 that they sometimes feed upon living plants ; but Dr. Savage states that 

 their nests are frequently built about the stems of trees and shrubs, which 

 are never injured thereby. 



I retained a colony of these American white ants in my study for many 

 months, in a pot filled with moist earth and rotten wood, ^^'hen subse- 

 quently examined, the whole upper portion of the earth was completely 

 filled with minute passages, about large enough for two of these ants to 

 pass each other. 



This same insect, described in this country by Mr. Haldeman under the 



* The accompanying wood-cut shows the nature and extent of these chambers. It is taken from a 

 diagonal section of tlie stem, between one and two inches above ground. 



