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V^I?E LUC 13 S.CS ^TATURALISTS 



P.riday, May 22, 19ol. 



ABT0U:tC21;!SI.IT : And now for i\ visit with Uncle Sson's Natiiralists. Ov.r 

 V/ilds I!c.n has heeded the admonition of Solomon to "go to the ant, thou 

 sl^j/;rard, consider her ways and be wise." Ke has been to the spcjcialists 

 of the United States Department of A^^-ric\ilture v/ho knov/ the ways of the 

 iuit ^ell, I^r. Wildsmanl 



Host of us renew oujt acquaintance with ants about this time of 

 the ycor. 



Some of the ants may join you at a picnic spread. Others may 

 not ponr.it you to rest on a lo^ in the woods. You notice the mounds of 

 still other kinds ri£:ht in yo'or path, or your bricicwalk, or your lav/n. 

 You discover a thin red line streaming across the pantry shelves to-./ard 

 the sui.ar bowl. 



It is very evident that we have a lot of ants, a lot of different 

 kinds of ants, found in a lot of different places. 



T.'o have a lot of ants right in many of our houses. In some cases, 

 ^"-y S'^t so bad and do so much dcuaage folks just have to movj out. 



Dr. E, A. Back, head of the division of the United Statos Department 

 of Agriculture v/hich deals with household insects, tolls mo that practically 

 all o"ar house-ants came from the tropics. That's v/hy they take to houses, 

 to keep warm in cold clirnates. Ants have shipped as stowav/ays on trading 

 ships to all parts of the Y/orld» The Argentine ant, which does so much 

 damage in the South, probably'- came on coffee ships to Hew Orleans from 

 Brazil, The little red ant 1-cnown as Pharaoh's ant crossed the seas so 

 long ago nobod;/ knov/s just v/here it did start from.. Most of our house 

 ants cam.e from the Old World, however. 



Once on land, they naturally spread only a few hundred foot each 

 year, although sometimes ants are carried considerable distances by winds. 

 Bat one of the chief ways of getting around from place to place is in our 

 "side-door Pullman" and by other means of hitch-hiking. 



Of course, we have native llorth American ants. But they -.re more 

 out— door ants, though sometimes some of them will make raids on dwelling 

 house larders. That is, most of them are outdoor ants. The little thief 

 ant of our northern and Eastern States is a true house pest. 



The little thief ant is not as much of a pest in hman Ixabitations 

 r.s it is in the homes of other ants, however. Thief ants come by their 



