ANNUAL REPORT. 87 



REMEDIES. 



Should this insect become so abundant as to be injurious jt 

 may be held in check by treatment in the winter in the following 

 manner: 



Scrape off the loose outer bark, and wash the trunks and larger 

 limbs with whale-oil soap solution, one pound in one gallon of 

 water. 



Many of the specimens brought to the office were found to 

 have been killed by parasites. 



AN ANT AS A FRUIT PEST. 



During the writer's frequent visits in the Bitter Root valley a 

 number of complaints reached him concerning a small ant that 

 builds its colonial mounds about the trunks of the apple trees and 

 girdles them. Man} r colonies were found in the one orchard exam- 

 ined that were not at the bases of the trees but the ants showed 

 preference for this position. Trees in these mounds were either 

 killed or greatly injured as a result of the girdling of the stem. In- 

 quiry made at different places in the valley showed that the trouble 

 is a common one. 



REMEDY. 



The use of the bi-sulphide of carbon, pouring it into the openings 

 of the mounds and later closing the openings with earth, would 

 probably be a satisfactory remedy. 



The writer has had good success with this substance used 

 against ants in the lawn and in other species but has never used it 

 against this ant. 



The substance is very inflammable, a lighted cigar being enough 

 to ignite it. The confined vapor is explosive. Care should there- 

 fore be exercised with its use. 



In treating lawiiants we have set fire to the vapor as it escapes 

 from the openings, and have made the destruction of the ants more 

 thorough. It would be well to experiment with this method also 

 in the control of this ant, to see if any injury will result to the tree. 



Only a small amount of the bi-sulphide of carbon is necessary. 



