14 



ants will be necessary, however, for their protection, and the nectar- 

 producing qualities of the different varieties ma}^ become a question 

 of practical importance if the keleps should become established. At 

 present the nectar secreted on the leaves and ' ^ squares " of the cotton 

 goes to waste, or even serves to attract injurious insects, among them 

 the boll worm moth. The discovery of the ant supplies a practical 

 reason for the existence of the nectaries, hitherto quite unsuspected, 

 and it suggests the further possibility that the weevil and the ant may 

 have been factors in the evolution of the cotton plant, for the weevil 

 is not known to feed on any plant except cotton. 



The former report alludes to the scarcity of insects in the cotton 

 fields protected by the keleps, but it had not at that time been ascer- 

 tained that these ants were a cause of the deficiency. The findipg of 

 the bone yards filled with the disjointed remains of their prey proves 

 that they capture and consume adult insects of many and diverse kinds, 

 and at Victoria they have shown a taste for bollworms also and similar 

 soft-bodied larvae. Their appetites are not, however, without dis- 

 crimination. They have spared, for example, the larvee of lad3^birds, 

 which are beneficial insects; also those of the small Thecla butterfly, 

 which is sometimes injurious to cotton. The former are often picked 

 up by the keleps but are put down again without injury, while the 

 latter are fondled and licked with the tongue. The keleps sometimes 

 visit plant-lice and leaf-hoppers to secure honeydew, but they have 

 not been detected in taking care of these insects or in carrying them 

 about, as do many other ants. This is the onl}^ suggestion of an unde- 

 sirable propensity on the part of the keleps, but the danger, if any, is 

 extremely remote — much less, indeed, than with many ants native in 

 the United States. 



SUMMARY. 



The present status of the investigation of the boll-weevil ant may be 

 summarized by .saying that three of five crucial questions have been 

 met and answered, and that two others are still to be reached, but with 

 no insurmountable obstacles as yet in sight. 



(1) An ant has been discovered in Guatemala which attacks and kills 

 the adult boll weevil, and thus holds this most injurious insect in check 

 and permits the regular harvesting of a crop of cotton, even under con- 

 ditions favorable to the weevil. 



(2) This ant is carnivorous and predaceous; it injures no form of veg- 

 etation, and takes nothing from the cotton plant except the nectar secreted 

 for it on the leaves and floral envelopes. 



(3) 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. 



