Red Ant versus Boll Weevil 



263 



of dollars each year # by checking the 

 boll weevil pest, whose ravages have 

 become so terrible of late. During the 

 past three years the boll weevil has cut 

 in half the value of the cotton harvest 

 of ten counties of Texas which it has 

 invaded. All efforts to check the wee- 

 vil have been in vain. It has spread 

 with the rage of an epidemic, until the 

 Southern States are dreading that they 

 will see one-half or all of their cotton 

 crop, whose normal value is $500,000,- 

 000, swept away. The boll weevil is a 

 kind of beetle, living on the bolls of 

 the cotton tree. A single pair of boll 

 weevils will multiply in a single season 

 into millions of ravenous and destructive 

 insects. 



Some time ago the investigators of the 

 Department of Agriculture learned of a 

 variety of cotton grown by the Indians 

 in Guatemala which seemed not to be 

 subject to the attacks of the boll weevil. 



The Secretary of Agriculture accord- 

 ingly dispatched Mr O. F. Cook to 

 Guatemala to ascertain whether it pos- 

 sessed in reality any quality enabling it 

 to resist the boll weevil or to learn other 

 causes of its immunity from the attacks 

 of the insect. 



A thorough search by Mr Cook shows 

 that the weevil is present and able to 

 injure the cotton, but reveals also an 

 active, enemy which keeps it in check. 

 This is a large reddish-brown ant, which 

 is attracted to the cotton by the food 

 which it secures from three sets of extra 

 floral nectaries. 



The ant attacks the weevil on sight 

 and finds it an easy prey. The ant's 

 mandibles are large enough to grasp the 

 weevil around the middle and pry apart 

 the joint between the thorax and the 

 abdomen. The long flexible body is 

 bent at the same time in a circle, to in- 

 sert the sting at the unprotected point 

 where the beetle's strong amoris open. 



The poison takes effect instantly, the 

 beetle ceases to struggle, and, with its 

 legs twitching feebly, is carried away in 



the jaws of its captor. As with many 

 other insects when stung by wasps, the 

 paralysis is permanent. Even when 

 taken away from the ants, the beetles 

 do not recover. 



The adroit and businesslike manner 

 in which the beetle is disposed of seems 

 to prove beyond question that the ant 

 is by structure and by instinct especially 

 equipped for the work of destruction, 

 and is, in short, the true explanation 

 of the fact that cotton is successfully 

 cultivated by the Indians of Alta Vera 

 Paz in spite of the presence of the boll 

 weevil. 



Instead of congregating in large num- 

 bers on the cotton in the immediate 

 vicinity of their nests, the ants have, 

 as it were, the good sense to spread 

 themselves through the field, from two 

 to four and five usually being found do- 

 ing inspection duty on each plant. In 

 some places there seemed to be not 

 enough ants to go around, and here the 

 beetles were more numerous. Rarely, 

 too, certain flowers or branches seemed 

 to have been overlooked, beetles being 

 found on the same plants with the ants. 

 In such instances, indeed, the young 

 flower or boll was generally riddled 

 with punctures, as though many beetles 

 had availed themselves of a rare oppor- 

 tunity of feeding undisturbed. 



Cotton-growing among the Indians 

 is something of a special art, the com- 

 munity being supplied by a few men, 

 aware, as it were, of the secrets of the 

 business. They know nothing about 

 the weevil and its ravages, and ascribe 

 such damage as occurs to other harmless 

 insects or even to superstitious causes, 

 such as the failure of the owner to ab- 

 stain from salt at the time of planting. 

 The ant, however, is definitely associa- 

 ted in their minds with cotton, and they 

 do not expect to secure a good crop 

 unless these insects favor the plants 

 with their presence. Some of the In- 

 dians give the ant a special name, 

 "kelep," not applied to any other 



