Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1889-09-12
SINGULAR VISITATION.
Winged Ants Swarm and Cover Ten
Miles of Lakes Surface.

About $50 o'clock on q recent after
noon fishermen on Lake Keuka began
to be annoved by hosts of minute in
sects, which they at first supposed were
some spe lies of black fly. The insects
came upon the lake from the southern
and eastern shores, and in such immense
swarms that within few minutes after
their appearance the surface of the lake
was covered 50 thicklv with them that
for long distances they concealed the
water completely from view. The
phenomenon was the more surprising
because insect pests of any kind on
Keuka Lake had never been known be-
fore, even the ubiquitous mosquito
being comparatively rare. These
winged visitors drove many fishermen
from the lake, as they made it difficult
to either see or breathe, so thick did
they settle and fill the air
1t was soon discovered that among
the myriads of the nimble insects were
larger ones, less in number, but
apparently of the same family,
except that their bodies We're brown
while the others We're black, and
that their abdomens were swollen in
ordinately. The wings of both species
were nearly white. Closer inspection
of the insects showed that they we're not
flies at all, but winged ants. The bodies
of the smaller kind We're Jet black and
glistened like polished ebony. The
brown ants, whose bodies were quarter
of al inch long, were found to be dis
tended with eggs, apparently hundreds
being in each ant.
AS the insects struggled on the surface
of the water it was noticed that they
gathered i'll large punches, and it was
discovered that in the centre of each
group was one of the large brown ants,
which the small black ones seemed to be
struggling to rescue or protect. In
rowing through this vast collection of
insects the wake of the boat would leave
n line on the elges of which the ants
were heaped together as Il plough throws
up the earth from furrow.
From Hammondsport the lake was
covered in til way by the insects from
shore to shore for distance of ten
miles, and where the rays OF the setting
sun slanted upon them, they appeared
on the lake in great patches of delicate
purp.e forming most remarkable pic
ture in combination with the surround.
ing scenery. When the insects first
began to drop down upon the lake black
bass were biting freely along the rocky
shores and bottoms, but, as the water
beaame alive with the struggling winged
ants, no bait the fishermen tried could
tempt the bass further, but the constant
breaking of the water all along the
shores showed plainly that this strange
visitation of insec5 life exactly suite
the epicurean palates of the fish. Now
and then, where the ants had gathered
in thick patches on the surface, some
times an inch or more in depth and a
rod OF more in area, some immense and
eager black bass would shoot from his
lurking place and sweep upward and
through the troubled group of in
sects, leaping into aggravating sight in
his sweep, with his great mouth open,
and leaving wide and sharp cut space in
the mass to mark his predaceous course.
One of these wrlthing groups of ants
brought great luck to MAJOR Gardner Of
the Sunny Slope and Inglehook vine
yards. He and New York Sun repor-
ter were bass fishing Off Twomile Point,
on the west shore of the lake. When
the plague of ants bore down upon them
to such an extent that it forced them to
pull for escape from the ammo ance,
reeling in their lines as they fed, the
Majors hook and minnow, at the end Of
200 feet of line came in contact with one
of the masses of ants. At the same in
stant big bass shot from the bottom
and struck in the midst of the ants,
seeking liberal mouthful of the
apparently luscious food. He took tho
Major's bait and hook in the haul. After
Il struggle of ten minutes ormore, during
the excitement of which even the swarm
ing ant pests were forgotten, the fish
was landed. He weighed plump five
pounds and half, the biggest single
bass catch of the season thereabout. 1t
may be that the skilful handling of the
minnow might have called that finny
prize from his lair, but the weight of
probability is that he only included the
minnow incidently in his grab of ants
This singular fight of ants is reported
to have extended as far south as Bath,
eight miles. People driving between
the two places were forced to mufflo
their faces at much discomfort to escape
the still greater annoyance of the in
sects. The air was filled with the ants
when the last person went to bed III
Hammondsport. The next morning,
with the exception of dead ones on the
lake and about the shores, not one OF
the insects was to be seen. They had
disappeared as suddenly and mysteri-
ously MS they had come.