AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AMERICA 25 
Frogs and toads are very common, especially in the swamps, along 
the rivers, and in cultivated gardens. The species found in general 
resemble those of the United States, except the escuerzo, which is a 
large green toadlike creature with white and yellow stripes, about 
twice the size of an ordinary garden toad. It has the power to swell 
up like a little balloon until it is as large as an orange or a base ball. 
It barks like a ground squirrel, is very combative and pugnacious, 
and will attack any living thing that approaches. It bites and 
hangs on like a snapping turtle. The natives fear it in belief that its 
bite is fatal. 
Along the coast and in the rivers and some of the larger lagoons 
are many species of fish. Among the most abundant on the coast are 
the gallo, lacha, arenque (herring), sardina (sardine), bagre, and 
congrio. One of the most highly prized fish for the table is the 
pejerrey, of which there are several varieties, including one that is 
found in the rivers and lagoons. It is a slender fish with very delicate 
flesh. The dorado is a large river fish that resembles somewhat the 
salmon. Some shell fish of diminutive size are found along the coast, 
and shrimp of various kinds are abundant. Whales, seals and 
dolphins are found along the coast of Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. 
As in all countries with a mild winter climate, many species of 
insects flourish in Argentina. In addition to the domestic honeybee, 
which supports a profitable industry in many sections, there are 
several species of wild bees. Bumblebees and hornets, mud daubers, 
and other wasps are well represented, and two species of wasps, 
locally known as the lechiguana and the camuati, produce a kind of 
honey. Black, brown, and red ants are very abundant and cause 
much damage. One species found in Cordoba is carnivorous and 
drives out other ants. The black ants are widely distributed and 
quickly defoliate the plants, trees, and vines in gardens and parks. 
In northern Argentina a termite or white ant builds nests on the 
ground in the form of a cone 18 inches to 4 feet in height, made of 
earth cemented with a secretion so that it is as hard as brick. These 
ant hills are conspicuous in the landscape and often cover several 
square miles like the stumps of cut-over timberland, especially 
where the ground is flat and damp. 
There are, of course, many kinds of bugs, plant-lice, scale insects, 
weevils, beetles, butterflies and moths, dragon flies, praying mantids, 
grasshoppers or locusts, crickets, animal lice, fleas, flies, mosquitoes, , 
spiders, ticks, chiggers, scorpions, centipedes, nematode worms, etc., 
that live upon plant life or prey upon other forms of animal life. 
Perhaps the most serious insect pest in Argentina is a grasshopper 
or locust, the Langosta (Schistocerca paranensis Burm.). These 
locusts resemble the large flying grasshoppers of the United States 
and are very destructive to all tender vegetation. Some years they 
come in swarms that darken the sky and when they settle they eat 
practically all green vegetation, destroying the crops of entire Prov- 
inces. They are present every year, but are worse in dry years and 
in the northern third of the country. The swarms seldom reach as 
far south as the city of Buenos Aires. An expensive systematic 
campaign has been waged against locusts for many years without 
much apparent effect. In the campaign of 1924 more than 165,000 
tons of these voracious insects were reported to have been destroyed 
under Government supervision. 
