﻿860 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  Weevil-Ant," 
  by 
  0. 
  F. 
  Cook 
  ; 
  published 
  at 
  the 
  Government 
  Printing 
  

   Oilice, 
  Washington. 
  

  

  An 
  ant 
  has 
  been 
  discovered 
  in 
  Guatemala 
  which 
  attacks 
  and 
  kills 
  

   the 
  adult 
  Boll- 
  Weevil 
  [Anthonomua 
  grandis, 
  Boh.), 
  and 
  thus 
  holds 
  this 
  

   most 
  injurious 
  insect 
  in 
  check, 
  and 
  permits 
  the 
  regular 
  harvesting 
  of 
  

   a 
  crop 
  of 
  cotton, 
  even 
  under 
  conditions 
  favourable 
  to 
  the 
  weevil. 
  

   This 
  ant, 
  known 
  as 
  the 
  " 
  Kelep 
  " 
  in 
  the 
  Kekchi 
  language 
  of 
  Alta 
  Vera 
  

   Paz, 
  Guatemala, 
  is 
  carnivorous 
  and 
  predaceous 
  ; 
  it 
  injures 
  no 
  form 
  of 
  

   vegetation, 
  and 
  takes 
  nothing 
  from 
  the 
  cotton-plant 
  except 
  the 
  nectar 
  

   secreted 
  for 
  it 
  on 
  the 
  leaves 
  and 
  floral 
  envelopes. 
  The 
  habits 
  and 
  

   temperament 
  of 
  the 
  insect 
  are 
  such 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  readily 
  capable 
  of 
  

   domestication, 
  transportation, 
  and 
  colonization 
  in 
  the 
  cotton 
  fields 
  of 
  

   Texas. 
  Many 
  colonies 
  have 
  already 
  been 
  introduced 
  at 
  Victoria 
  from 
  

   Guatemala, 
  and 
  a 
  peculiar 
  habit 
  of 
  these 
  ants 
  was 
  observed. 
  When 
  

   the 
  insects 
  were 
  being 
  liberated 
  after 
  a 
  month 
  of 
  captivity, 
  almost 
  the 
  

   first 
  thing 
  they 
  did 
  was 
  to 
  bring 
  out 
  their 
  dead 
  ants, 
  and 
  carry 
  them 
  

   as 
  far 
  from 
  their 
  nests 
  as 
  the 
  boundaries 
  of 
  their 
  enclosures 
  would 
  

   permit. 
  It 
  now 
  remains 
  to 
  be 
  seen 
  whether 
  the 
  Keleps 
  will 
  survive 
  

   the 
  winter 
  climate 
  of 
  Texas, 
  and 
  whether 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  obtained 
  or 
  

   propagated 
  in 
  sufficient 
  numbers 
  to 
  serve 
  the 
  practical 
  purpose 
  for 
  

   which 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  introduced. 
  

  

  