INJURIOUS INSECTS, ETC. 



Ants on Fruit-Trees. 



(Ord. Hymenoptera: Fam. Forhicid^e and Myrmictdjs.) 



From a not uncommon belief that all insects are injurious, fruit- 

 growers are often unnecessarily alarmed by the appearance, in large 

 numbers, of ants in fruit-trees, especially when found in association 

 with apparent insect injury; and inquiries are made of the precise nature 

 of the damage caused by them and how they may best be destroyed. 

 The following is one of many similar letters received: 



Do the small ants that nest in ant-hills in the ground, especially about 

 the drives and walks, injure fruit-trees ? I have noticed them running 

 about young apple, pear, and peach-trees, some of which have leaves 

 curled and otherwise showing the ill effects of something. There are 

 also some green lice on the leaves. What will destroy both ants and lice, 

 and how can ants be kept off the trees if they are detrimental ? Trees 

 have been sprayed with solution of London purple, but I do not see 

 that it stops the ants or kills the lice. E. M . 



An Ant Frequenting Apple-Trees. 

 The ants that are so often to be seen running up and down the trunks 

 and main branches of fruit-trees, are not known to be injurious to the 

 tree or its fruit. A large black ant with a deep chestnut-red thorax 

 is quite common on apple-trees. It was described by Dr. Fitch in his 

 First Report on the Insects of New York, as Formica Nov ceboracensis, 

 but has since been identified with an European species bearing the 

 name of Camponotus herculaneus (Linn.). It is also, according to 

 Cresson, the Formica Pennsylvanica of many writers. Its occurrence 

 on apple-trees is always associated with the presence of plant-lice or 

 aphides. It feeds on the " honey-dew " secreted by the aphides and 

 given out from the pair of honey-tubes projecting from their abdomen, 

 and in return the ant gives them protection from their insect enemies 

 in consideration of the grateful food they supply. 



The Cherry-Tree Ant. 

 Another smaller ant is, according to Dr. Fitch, a constant attendant 

 of the cherry-tree plant-louse, Myzus cerasi. The worker is only 0.14 

 of an inch long, of a dark-brown color, with a shining, black, pointed 



