86 THE HOUSE FLY DISEASE CARRIER 



unless the eggs and larvae (in manure) were protected 

 from ants, as the latter invariably carried off both 

 eggs and larvae and even pupae. 



In the work against the cotton boll weevil carried 

 on in the Southern United States by the experts of 

 the Bureau of Entomology of the U. S. Department 

 of Agriculture, it was found that the "fire ant" of the 

 Southern cotton fields (Solenopsis gemminata, var. 

 diabola) is an important enemy of the weevil, and 

 strong efforts were made to multiply the ants. It was 

 soon found that they were strongly attracted to horse 

 manure and undoubtedly destroyed all its other insect 

 inhabitants. Mr. W. D. Pierce of the Bureau informs 

 the writer that the little black ant Monomorium mini- 

 mum also frequents horse manure heaps in Texas, and 

 he also says that several species of the ant genus Phei- 

 dole have this habit. 



Moreover, that famous pest in Louisiana and parts 

 of California, known as the "Argentine ant" (Iri- 

 domyrmex humulis) nests readily dn horse manure, and 

 its active, pugnacious and predatory habits undoubtedly 

 induce it to prey upon the maggots found there. 



Mr. Pierce' s ant suggestion was of sufficient interest 

 to follow up, and therefore the writer has corresponded 

 with Prof. Wilmon Newell, of College Station, Texas ; 

 Prof. J. B. Garrett of the State University of Louisiana 

 at Baton Rouge; and Mr. T. C. Barber, in charge of 

 the Audubon Park laboratory of the U. S. Bureau of 

 Entomology at New Orleans all of them men who 

 have had intimate acquaintance with the Argentine ant, 



