HABITS OF THE KELEP, OR GUATEMALAN COTTON 

 BOLL-WEEVIL ANT. / 



The kelcp^' was discovered on the cotton April 20, 190^, in Alta 

 Vera Paz, Guatemala, and its efficiencj^ as a destro3^er of the Mexican 

 cotton boll weevil {Anthonomus grandis Boh.) was demonstrated the 

 following day. It was immediately appreciated, of course, that such 

 an insect would be of value in Texas, providing that it could be colo- 

 nized and would thrive in that State, and that it had no noxious habits. 

 To the solution of these questions all subsequent study of the species 

 has been directed. 



Immediate practical use was also made of these observations of 

 habits and life history. The ant has been brought to Texas in health}^, 

 vigorous condition, notwithstanding injunction proceedings and other 

 unavoidable delaj^s, which lengthened the period of travel and cap- 

 tivit}^ to more than a month. Of about 4,000 ants, in 89 colonies, 

 scarcel}^ more than a dozen died during the voyage, and half of these 

 were in a single colon}^ which was for a time deprived of a queen. 

 The loss, too, was made good many times over b}^ the emergence dur- 

 ing the voj^age of numerous ants' from pupje which had been collected 

 and placed in the cages with the mature insects. 



AVhile the adult worker ants expose themselves freely to dr}" air and 

 sunlight, the chief factor in the successful transportation of the colonies 

 has been the maintenance of adequate moisture in the €ages by means 

 of artificial nests constructed of earth and stones, carefulh^ built in to 

 form underground chambers not to be shaken down by the jarring 

 unavoidable in steamboat and railroad travel. It was fortunate, 

 perhaps, that the weevil ant was quite unknown when we left the 

 United States, for our outfit included nothing in the way of bell jars, 

 glass plates, and other laborator}^ appliances recommended by Lubbock 

 and other investigators of ants. Much time might have been wasted 

 with these complicated contrivances which would at best have been 

 far less suited to our purposes than the very simple means to which 

 necessit}^ compelled a resort. For this ant, at least, the stone and 



" This is the name of the cotton-protecting ant in the Kekchi language of Alta Vera 

 Paz, Guatemala. The word has no other meaning or derivation, ])ut appears to have 

 come down from ancient times, when a higher agricultural civilization existed in this 

 region than that found by the Spaniards. The accent is on the second syllable, and 

 the first sounds as though written kay. 



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