The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-05-25
STUDYING The WHITE Ant.
A Baltimore EntomoIogist Learns
Points About the Insect.


Points About the Insect.
BALTIMORE, Nd. May 25.-Prof II
Nee Kpower, of the Johns HOPKINS
Medical School, has been devotfng much
Of his leisure time of late to the study Of
what are popularity known as white ants.
the little insects whose ravages in wood
have been SO extensive in this city Of late.
Their anatomy and mode of living have
been especially intresting. and Prof
Knower has secured specimens of these
insects in their various stages OF deveI-
opment- In speaking of the matter yes
terday he said:
These insects are commonly called
white ants, but they really do not belong
to the ant family. although they have
some traits possessed by the ants. They
are termites, their name coming from the
Latin, meaning to bore. It is not an IN
common thing 10 find these insects, which
work their way into wood of all varieties
and they are found in many old houses
in wooden fences and wooden bridges
They are especially dangerous in wooden
railroad bridges, and wherever such
bridges have not been replaced by iron or
steel ones they should be regularly in
spected, so that the presence of these in
sects can be ascertained as soon as they
have gained an entrance into any of the
wood
They bore their way into the wood and
generally go in the line of least resist
aEce. this being with the grain They do
not attack live trees nor wood that has
begun to rot. They enter trees which have
but recently died and also weII-pre served
wood Their object is food, and they live
on the fine wood they secure IN their Dor
ing In fields they are often found in
fence posts and rails.
They live in the ground, where they
build their nests, and they come up from
the ground for food When they enter a
piece of wood they not infrequently take
their young along, and sometimes they
build their nests there Exposed tinbers
in houses seem to be favorite places with
them They hollow out the interior Of the
piece of timber without leaving any sign
Of their presence on the exterior. They
sometimes even attack pieces Of furniture
in a room. and the legs of tables have
been known to be entered by these ag-
gressive terTnites- In warmer countries
they are more destructive In Egypt wood
cannot be placed in the ground at all.
They come W from the ground in the
night They are not frequently found IN
very clean places and their work can be
checked by the use of kerosene oil or tur-
pentine poured into and over the wood
which they attack
They are one of the few species Of in
sects which live a community life. It is
interesting TO know that they are not
ants at all, nor are they related to the
ant family, nor to bees or wasps, which
have thin waists and which also live a
community life They belong to what are
IL
guished from the others, and yet they
have a complicated social organization
Certain members Of the community are
set aside for work, such as the taking
care of the eggs, the protection of the
young and the securing Of food; others
are called soldiers. whose duty il is to
fight other insects
THE workers and the soldiers are dis
tinguished by the size Of their heads and
jaws The soldiers have large. square
heads and long Jaws, While the neadS OF
the workers are OF Moderate size and
their jaws are smaller The color of the
heads of the soldiers IS generally black
Both OF these species are white and vel
low and can be distinguished at once from
real ants. Then certain young ternlites
develop further and mature into males
and females. or kings and queens, as
they are commonly called
Just at this season Of the year, as the
ground warns up, they Fly out and after
mating they lose their wings and estab-
liSh new nests The IermitsS III TINS sec
ton of the country build their nests be-
meath the ground Dr. Hubbard. q Wash
iGgton entOmClogist. has secured a queen
OF this species Our knowledge OF. their
habits, the life of their community and
their nests rests principally on the obseT-
walton of persons who have studied them
in the tropics, where they have been
known to build nests Of clay as high as
twelve feet. These nests are sometimes
built in trees and ara also very large
Naturally the termiteS in the tropics are
much larger than our species, and they
do much more damage. Lizards and birds
prey upon them and aid much in restrict
ing their deyastations.