3G1 



The species is reeorded under the name, Pheidole pusilla 

 Heer, with the remarks : 



"One of the commonest ants in Oahu, and probably else- 

 where. (T. B.)" 



"The honse-ant of ^fadeira ; and occasionally met with in 

 England. (W. F. K.)" 



1882. McCook, H. C. — Ants as beneficial insecticides. 

 Proc. Acad. Xat. Sc. Philad. 1882, 263-271. 



This article is a discussion of the practicability of the use 

 of ants for the destruction of insect pests, as practiced in the 

 province of Canton, China. 



The Chinese are said to protect their orange trees from 

 dreaded pests by importing ants from neighboring hills. The 

 growers themselves supply some ants, which prey upon the 

 enemies of the orange, but not in sufficient numbers ; and 

 resort is had to hill-people, who, throughout the summer and 

 winter find the nests suspended from branches of bamboo and 

 various trees. There are two varieties of ants, red and yellow, 

 whose nests resemble cotton-bags. The collectors are supplied 

 with pig or goat bladders, which are baited inside with lard. 

 The orifices of these they apply to the entrance of nests, 

 when the ants enter the bags and become a marketable com- 

 modity at the orchards. Orange trees are colonized by deposit- 

 ing the ants on their upper branches, and to enable them to 

 pass from tree to tree all the trees of an orchard are connected 

 by bamboo rods. 



The author discusses the subject under several heads, and 

 sums up : 



Even if the ant should not be as tractable for domestication 

 as her hymenopterous ally, the bee, and in spite of her occa- 

 sional forays upon our cupboards and crops, the ant is worthy 

 to stand at the head of insects beneficial to man. 



1899. Forel, A. — Pheidole megacephala Fab. Fauna Ha- 

 Avaiiensis I, 118. 



"Hab. All the Islands from the coast to an elevation of 

 3,000 feet. Cosmopolitan." 



