324 



THE AMERICAN 



(Schanh Aiistralian Insects.) Many other ex- 

 amples of book enemies might be collected. But 

 let us not mourn over our fate in this country, 

 but rather rejoice that our insect enemies are no 

 worse. No one can.contemplatc (lie i:i\:ii;i'-; oi 

 White Ants, or Termites, in tropiral cliiin'^. upon 

 furniture, clothing', books and paper-, and '■\cn 

 houses tlirnisi'lvcs. or anything not coniiMKod oT 

 brick, sfoiir or llic nn 'la Is, without rejoicing 

 our liltic prriilcxili<'s arc no worse. Humboldt 

 informs us that in all E(|uinoctial America where 

 the White ATit abounds, it is infinitely rare to 

 find papers or books that go back fifty or sixty 

 years. 



[We present at the head of this article (Fig. 

 200) outline figures of the two insects described 

 by our correspondent (a, Sitodrepa panicea; b, 

 its antennae ; c, Ptinus brunneus) . Among the 

 ^ under Ihc head of 

 do,-.,nM.1,'ral.I.Mlam- 

 a-v in lliivialiliide, 

 may bo niciiUoned 

 ! I wo species oiPseu- 

 iloneuroptera. The 

 I lirst of these is the 

 aiitcrous form of a 

 i niinutePsocM.s,com- 

 ; luonly termed the 

 •Uook-louse." The 

 most conunon spe- 

 "X i 'ies seems to be au 



"_Jj apterous formofj's. 



II., ;in im]iorlationfroni Europe; 

 biUs and Fs. geologus, Walsh, 

 like situations. Both these last 



THE RED ANT OP TEXAS. 



[Kig. 202.] 



doilH'slirii^, Va 



though Ps. ai 

 arc also found 

 forms are normally apterous, ,and it is difficult to 

 separate them from domesticus. The second 

 book pest is the common Termite, or White Ant 

 ( Termes fiavipes) , the different forms of which 

 wc illustrated on page 266. Two years ago it was 

 found that many of the books and public docu- 

 ments in the vaults at the capitol in Springfield, 

 Illinois, were utterly ruined by the gnawings of 

 some animal, which was subsequently proved to 

 be this common N. A. Termite. These insects had 

 made large irregular gnawings through many of 

 them, and had discolored the leaves by their 

 (^xi'rcment. Thei'c is also now on exhibition at 

 the St. Louis Mercantile Libi'ary, a large law- 

 book, presented by Ilobt. McKenna, Esq., which 

 u as in liki' manner injui'ed by these Termites 

 wliilc il lay in tlie St. Louis Court House. Our 

 Kignrc 2111 represents the outline of the gnaw- 

 ings. The entrance was made througli the 

 leathern cover, but did not quite reach tlu'ough 

 (o the other side. In both these instancos tlic 

 books were kept in a rather damp place. — Eu.] 



It is not often that I can find leisure moments 

 to devote to writing, but as I have never seen 

 anything in your periodical devoted to the lied 

 Ant of Texas, and as we have for the past few 

 days been digging them out in my yard and gar- 

 den, I thought I would write you a few lines in 

 regard to them ; and herewith I ejiclose speci- 

 mens of the same. The large Ant with winys is 

 the female, of wliich few arc found in a nest 

 where there are countless millions, billions or 

 trillions of workers. Now, no man probably 

 ever saw one of these female ants appear at the 

 surface of the earth voluntarily; and if they 

 never come to the surface why are they provided 

 with wings? You may say that they probably 

 do come to the surface and that they have never 

 been noticed, but I h.ave seen many old men 

 who were born in Texas, and have lived here 

 for years myself, and none of us ever saw one of 

 these female ants until a few years since, wlien 

 one of their nests was dug out, and great was 

 the astonishment of every one who beheld these 

 enormous ants with wiiigs; and at first few 

 would believe that they were ants, but believed 

 the story about them a hoax. 



There are two varieties of the Red Ant here, 

 one of which does but little damage (aliiiost 

 none), and works in the day time, in the bright 

 sun, altogether. Their nests are comparatively 

 small, usually having but one entrance. The 

 workei-s differ in form from the "Cut Ant" in 

 there not being such a disproportion between the 

 head and the body. Little is known about their 

 habitation, as they do but little damage, and 1 

 presume no one ever took the trouble to dig out 

 their nests. The other variety of Red Ant is 

 [FiR. 20.3.] _ commonly known here as the 

 " Cut Ant " (appropriately 

 named), and ofttimes it is 

 very destructive. Its habita- 

 tion is underground, and con- ^ 

 sists (in a large nest such as 

 we have just finished digging 

 out) of many thousand apart- 

 ments, varying in size from a walnut to a barrel, 



