ECONOMIC IMPORTANCE. 
25 
numbers as to cause their death. Repellents which can be adapted 
to such a case are rare, even pyrethrum powder being practically 
ineffective. The only substance we have found which would at all 
protect the sitting hens is zenoleum powder, liberally sprinkled 
in the nest and among the hen's feathers from time to time 
during the brooding period. The nests of many birds are 
frequented by the ants in the same way, and the number of 
young birds destroyed in this manner must be considerable. The 
ubiquitous English spar- 
iow, however, seems to 
flourish, as ever, in spite 
of the ants. 
Another form of injury, 
though indirect, is due to 
the antagonism which ex- 
ists between the Argentine 
ant and other species of 
ants, and which terminates 
only with annihilation of 
the native species. As the 
result of this, beneficial 
species of ants (such as the 
1 ' fire an t , " Solenopsis gemi- 
nata, which destroys a con- 
siderable number of boll 
weevils in their immature 
stages) are exterminated, 
and their place is taken by 
the infinitely more trouble- 
some Argentine ant. 
It may presently be 
found that the Argentine 
ant is an important agent 
in the spread of disease. 
The Workers Congregate in FlG - 4.— Sugar-cane mealy-bugs on sugar cane. (Original.) 
great numbers around garbage pails, privies, etc., and are frequently 
very hard to keep out of sick rooms, the odors seeming to attract them. 
They have been watched busily carrying away the sputum of a negro 
who was suffering from tuberculosis. There are many ways in 
which it is possible for these ants to assist in the distribution of 
various disease-producing organisms. 
Rarely the activities of this ant take on a beneficial aspect. Father 
Biever states that they have in many cases completely exterminated 
the bedbugs in the hovels and tenements occupied by poor people in 
the city of New Orleans. The same authority several years ago 
