HOUSE ANTS 5 
carbon disulphide (p. 5) or, if close to the surface beneath the paving, 
by means of hot water or kerosene, if the paving can be lifted. Carbon 
iui ptale | is excellent for pouring through cracks in cement areaways. 
Usually 1 or 2 teaspoonfuls will lull all the ants in the nest. 
The large black ant (Camponotus herculeanus pennsylvanicus Deg.) 
(fig. 3) is often over half an inch long and attracts much attention. 
It is frequently called a carpenter ant because it builds burrows in 
decaying stumps, logs, and dead branches of trees close to houses. 
Tt even burrows in house timbers, but usually only in those already 
partially decayed or otherwise softened by exposure to weather or 
soil moisture. When in a timber of the house or porch, the ants drop 
bits of sawdust to the floor through small holes in their galleries in the 
wood. Kill them by injecting kerosene, orthodichlorobenzene, or 
carbon disulphide into the wood through these openings, or use a bait 
(formula 4). It may be desirable to “replace the infested wood, for 
often it is already partially decayed from other causes. | 
The Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex: pruinosus Roger, var. humilis 
Mayr) (fio 4), found throughout the South and in portions of Cali- 
fornia, greatly exceeds in destructiveness other species of ants and fre- 
quently overruns entire communities. It nests almost anywhere, but 
usually outside the house. It is best controlled by a campaign of 
poisoning conducted by the community, during which a poisoned bait 
(formula 3) is exposed in perforated tin cans or waxed-paper bags. 
Often a few cans of poison attached to the foundations of a house and 
to tree trunks in the yard will free individual homes of this species. 
Location of Colony or Nest 
The nest of a house or lawn ant may be in any place offering protec- 
tion. In the house it may be between floorings, in the walls, behind 
baseboards, in a decayed or defective timber, or in the soil beneath a 
eracked cement cellar floor. Out of doors the nest may be in dry- 
rotted porch supports or window sills, beneath brick or cement walks, 
beneath stones, in decaying logs, in cavities, or the softened interior of 
trees, or merely in the ground itself. 
When a nest is in the woodwork of the house, the accumulation of 
sawdust which the ants drop from the infested piece of wood is usually 
ample evidence of its presence. Ordinarily ants in wood are not to be 
feared, as termites are, for they usually make their nests in wood 
already softened or decayed by seeping rainwater or other moisture 
and do not often attack thoroughly sound wood. The color of the ° 
sawdust dropped by the ants through holes in the infested piece 
indicates whether the wood is sound or not. 
Control of Ants 
Ideal. ant, otto is based on the destruction of the queens and the 
young in-the nest itself. If the nest can be found by following back 
along the line or trail of worker ants as they come to and go een food, 
it 1s not difficult to kill the colony, particularly if it is located, as it often 
is, out of doors, or in the soil beneath a cracked cement basement floor. 
If the worker ants are proceeding from a crack in the cement of the 
driveway, from between the bricks of a walk, or from a similar place, 
merely pour | or 2 tablespoonfuls of carbon disulphide down the Ses 
and repeat this after 24 hours if necessary. (Carbon disulphide is 
