76 THE ARGENTINE ANT. 
was then fed in abundance to foraging workers. Subsequent exami- 
nation of the colonies receiving this infected material failed to show 
any indication of the disease. 
No attempt was made to experiment with this disease under labora- 
tory conditions, on account of the danger of accidentally infecting 
honey bees in the neighborhood. 
LOW TEMPER ATTRES. 
The winter temperatures experienced at Baton Rouge, La., seemed 
not to produce any appreciable mortality among the ants. During 
the winter of 1909-10 a colony at Baton Rouge was kept out of doors 
all winter with no other protection than the plaster of Paris walls of 
the cage in which it was confined. This colony successfully with- 
stood a temperature of 22° F., the lowest temperature recorded 
during the winter. It is safe to assume that in their underground 
nests and in well-protected situations they can withstand a much 
lower degree of cold than this. 
FLOODS. 
Heavy rains appear to be the only meteorological phenomena 
which produce any appreciable effect upon the Argentine ants, but 
even in this connection it is worthy of note that the most heavily 
infested sections at j)resent are within regions of exceedingly heavy 
annual rainfall. 
After sudden severe rainstorms it was noticed that the ditches and 
drains at Baton Rouge and Xew Orleans . contained thousands of the 
dead ants, evidently washed from trees and ground before they could 
reach a place of safety. The sudden rising of flood waters over low- 
lands would appear to destroy many colonies and the larva? in them, 
yet, strange to say, the batture along the Mississippi River, which is 
annually covered for several weeks with several feet of water, con- 
tinues to be an area of approximately maximum infestation. So 
facile are the ants in migrating to higher grounds or hi ascending 
trees, taking with them all larvae and pupa?, that it is likely that the 
mortality from this source is much less than would be expected. 
The mere destruction of foraging workers by rains does not effect any 
appreciable dhninution in the rate of increase since, if the colonies 
themselves remain unharmed, the deposition of eggs and the rearing 
of more workers continues unabated. 
METHODS OF REPRESSION. 
It is as a household pest that the Argentine ant has forced itself 
most into prominence, particularly in the infested cities and towns. 
although it is doubtful if the financial loss due to its inroads in this 
