18 
THE ARGEXTIXE AXT. 
Table I. — Data concerning various towns infested with the Argentine ant. 
Name of town. 
Eleva- 
tion. 
Mean 
annual 
temper- 
ature. 
Absolute 
maximumj 
temper- 
ature. 
Summer 
maximum. 
mean. 
Absolute yvmter . Mean 
minimum ' miniimim l annual 
temper- | mi ™™ m ' , precipita 
ature. I u±tidl - i tion. 
Montgomery. Ala. 
Mobile. Ala. 
Vicksburg. Miss . . 
Meridian," Miss 
Hattiesburg, Miss. 
Biloxi, Miss 
Alexandria. La. .. 
Baton Rouge, La. 
Delta, La 
Lake Charles. La. 
New Iberia. La . . . 
New Orleans, La . 
Sacramento. Cal.. 
San Francisco, Cal 
San Jose, Cal 
Los Angeles, Cal. . 
Feet. 
°F. 
'F. 
°F. 
196 
11 
229 
338 
154 
24 
77 
62 
87 
22 
15 
8 
29 
28 
95 
2S7 
0) 
0) 
107 
102 
101 
104 
103 
100 
109 
103 
) 
103 
101 
102 
108 
100 
104 
109 
(') 
•w. 

40 
1 
45 
1 
42 
6 
38 
1 
40 
1 
43 
2 
39 
2 
42 
0) 
3 
41 
6 
45 
7 
4S 
19 
40 
29 
46 
18 
28 
45 
Indie*. 
50. 
62. 
53. 
53. 
48. 
61. 
54. 
54. 
r-) 
i Records not available. 
Note. — " Summer maximum, mean "=the average of the total maximums for June, 
July, and August. " Winter minimum, mean "=the average of the total minimums 
for December. January, and February. 
COMMON NAME. 
The name ''Argentine ant" was first used by the senior author for 
this species in 1908, when the public was on the point of accepting 
the name "New Orleans ant." The permanent use of the latter 
name would manifestly have been unjust to the Crescent City, for 
that city was in no way responsible for the intro due tion of the pest. 
As stated on preceding pages, this ant was originally described from 
specimens collected in Argentina, South America, and up to the 
present time we have no reasons for not believing that this is one, at 
least, of the countries in which this ant is native. The naming of 
this ant after the country from which it was first described is by no 
means without precedent. Many other common insects, such as 
the San Jose scale, American cockroach, Colorado potato beetle, 
Mexican cotton-boll weevil, etc., have received their popular names 
in the same manner. 
Various common names have been suggested from time to time, 
among them " crazy ant," " tropical ant," " pernicious ant," etc., 
but all have the disadvantage of being as applicable to other species 
as to Iridomyrmex hi! mills and none of them is distinctive. 
The term " Argentine ant" has been readily accepted, alike by 
entomologists and the press, is concise, and not likely to be confused 
with similar names; hence we believe it to be as good a name as can 
be adopted. 
