TERMITES IN THE UNITED STATES. 25 



flower beds around the walls of wooden buildings are a source of in- 

 festation by termites. The soil in such beds is always less compact 

 and warmer, and termites have been observed by Hagen swarming 

 from such beds. 



Webster states 1 that in 1896 termites were destructive in Ohio, 

 burrowing in the roots of small trees. He figures the injuries to 

 geranium cuttings that were being propagated in a greenhouse near 

 Cincinnati, the termites destroying many cuttings by eating them off 

 the benches. 



Chittenden states that the common white ant (flavipes) was re- 

 corded some years ago as occurring quite commonly on plants grown 

 under glass, and that it is directly injurious to such growing vegeta- 

 tion as greenhouse geranium (PI. XIII), chrysanthemum cuttings, 

 and other herbaceous plants, especially those with large stems or 

 more or less woody stalks. The stalks found to be injured had been 

 tunneled through and through by the white ants, and at the bottom 

 near the roots the plants had given way to the inroads of numerous 

 individuals. Several plants were killed outright. The causes of 

 such attack can easily be traced to the colonies in old sticks that are 

 used for recording the date of setting out, etc., and the termites min- 

 ing in wooden benches. One such case was reported by L. C. Corbett, 

 of the Bureau of Plant Industry, who stated that large begonia 

 plants at Morgantown, W. Va., had been injured in a similar manner. 

 Infestation was due to the undermining of the bench structure -be- 

 neath the plants, the insects having burrowed through the wood up 

 through the drainage holes in the bottoms of the pots. Florists are 

 sometimes sorely tried by these insects and state that "they attack 

 everything." Eoses grown in greenhouses are sometimes badly in- 

 jured by the girdling of the white ants. While partial to geraniums 

 and chrysanthemums, termites, as shown by the records of the Bureau 

 of Entomology, injure jasmine, pansies, and oleander. Wooden 

 benches and plant pots are infested, as well as the woodwork of the 

 buildings, the insects coming up through the ground from outside 

 colonies. Termites may be considered a serious greenhouse pest. 

 According to G. A. Dean, entomologist of the Kansas State Agricul- 

 tural College, on January 29, 1915, termites 2 swarmed in a green- 

 house; there was a swarm in the same greenhouse on December 26, 

 1914. W. E. Britton states 3 that more than 200 geranium plants had 

 been ruined by termites, 4 which tunneled out the inside of the stem 

 and main roots in the field at New Bochelle, N. Y. 



1 Webster, F. M. Some Particularly Destructive Insects of Ohio. Ohio Agr. Expt. Sta. 

 Bui. 68, p. 19-58, 6 pis., 1896. 



2 Leucotermes lucifugus. 



3 Britton, W. E. Injury to Geraniums by White Ants. In 14th Rpt. Connecticut State 

 Ent. f. 1914 (Conn. Agr. Expt. Sta. Rpt. f. 1914, pt. 3), p. 196-197, 1915. 



1 Leucotermes sp. 



