THE ARGENTINE ANT: DISTRIBUTION AND CONTROL. 11 
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cent of naphthalene, and several other repellents. While bands con-. 
taining bichlorid of mercury and nicotine sulphate were effective 
_ for slightly longer periods than the sticky substance alone, their use 
is hardly to be recommended. 
INDOOR BARRIERS. 
Perhaps the most effective and durable barrier which can be used 
indoors is a bichlorid-of-mercury tape or band. Tape is soaked in a 
saturated solution of bichlorid of mercury and then hung up to dry. 
It is then placed around the legs of tables, safes, etc., and if it is kept 
dry will last from six months to a year. Common lampwick one-half 
an inch wide is ideal for this purpose. After it has been treated in a 
saturated solution of bichlorid of mercury and dried, pieces are 
wrapped around the leg of the piece of furniture to be isolated and 
ends lapped over tightly and pinned. The tape can be readily re- 
newed by another soaking in bichlorid of mercury and repinned in 
place. | 
Twenty-five per cent of bichlorid of mercury mixed in shellac may 
be paintéd around the legs of furniture, and when dry it will be quite 
-as satisfactory as the tape. 
Eatreme caution is advised in handling bichlorid of mercury, as 
there is always an element of danger in using this poison. In recent 
years the sale of this drug to the layman has been practically tee 
continued. 
A simple and efficient, though perhaps unsightly, barrier may be 
made by placing the legs of furniture in saucers and putting a gen- 
erous supply of moth balls in each saucer. The moth balls will 
slowly volatilize, and it is necessary to add more from time to time, 
but the ants will not cross the barrier thus formed. 
Coal oil placed in saucers in which the legs of furniture rest will 
repel the ant, but the odor of the oil is disagreeable to most persons. 
: ANT POISONS. 
Many and varied experiments have proved that it is futile to try 
to exterminate Argentine ants with a poison which kills rapidly. A 
, few workers may be killed, but the masses of ants will quickly recog- _ 
~ nize the source of fatality hd avoid the * doctored” food. The few 
workers killed in this way will have no effect in reducing the numbers. © 
None of this poison will reach the queens in the nest, and it has been © 
found that it is essential to kill off the queens in order to prevent - 
further multiplication of the pest. 
Soon after the writer took up the work on the Racontane ant Mr. 
LL. J. Nickels? published an article on the control of the Argentine 
ant in California, in which a rather successful poisoned sirup was 
described. It was decided to give this poisoned sirup a thorough trial 
1 Nickels, L. J. Field Work in the Control of the Argentine Ant. Jour. Econ. Ent., 
y. 4, no. 4, pp. 353-358. 1911. 
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