694 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
1. TELE PINE .—Pinus strobus, rigida , etc. 
AFFECTING THE ROOT. 
The American white ant, Termes frontalis of Haldeman, 
already described (No. 196) as being often destructive to 
chestnut posts and rails, mines its burrows in the white pine 
(P. strobus) more than in anj- other tree, the softness of the 
wood probably rendering it favorite food for this insect. When 
pines of the “ second growth,” which are so much softer than 
the original or first growth of these trees, are cut down, their 
roots, and also their trunks, when lying upon the surface of the 
ground, immediately become the abode of colonies of these 
insects, which rapidly multiply into countless mj'riads, whose 
operations are continued until the stumps are reduced to mere 
shells. 
Since my previous notice of this insect, I have observed that 
it sometimes lives in societ}' with, and is nursed and protected' 
by the common black and red ant (Formica rufa). Early in 
April, on opening a hillock of the red ant, white ants were found 
therein in much greater numbers than the builders and true 
owners of the hillock. In addition to the workers, numerous 
soldiers, and pup<e with four rudimentary wings nearly half the 
length of the abdomen, were found at that early date; and 
although they were quite active in secreting themselves by 
running into the deeper cells of the hillock, the more brisk and 
stout red ants eagerly aided them in withdrawing, grasping 
them in their jaws and carrying them off under ground, making 
no discrimination between these white ants and the eggs and 
young of their own kind in this operation. And it was curious 
to notice that, though a white ant were running to hide itself 
as rapidly as its six legs could carry it, when met and grasped 
by a red ant, it instantly became perfectly passive and motion¬ 
less, allowing its more athletic friend to tug and toil in dragging 
it away, without stirring to assist in the labor, evidently feeling 
that it was much more safe and sure of protection when in 
charge of the red ant, than when left to its own resources. 
