The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1903-04-08
WICKED WHITE ANTS
AT NATIONAL MUSEUM
Annual Appearance of Pest That Is TRYING to Eat Up
Building.

/ White ants are making their annual
/ appearance at the National Museum.
/ They have appeared in great number
/ from the floor of the office of Prof 0. r.
/ Mason, the acting curator The ants
/ come up through holes and cracks in the
/ floor. fly clumsily around for a little
/ while. shed their wings. and disappear
again
+ This is not the first time the destruc-
tive white ant has been found In the
/ Museum. The flooring of one of the
/ largest sections of the Museum was for
/ some years annually undermined and
/ weakened by very large colony Of these
pests. which could not be located. and
! finally the authorities solved the prob
! lem by replacing the wood floor with one
! Of cement.
When white ants make up their minds
that The woodwork Of a certain building
is suited TO their tastes. disagreeable
/ things viii happen and great trouble will
be found IN getting rid of them. Their
most striking characteristic is a fear Of
the light while in the destructive boring
stage OF their careers. They reduce a
piece OF wood to Il mere shell. and the
first the owner OF the article attacked
knows about them is when it crumbles
to pieces. The ants gel into the beam
Of d building. eat the beam to a she'll.
and the sudden sinking OF floor IS the
first warning that comes to the house
holder.
Once the ant is IN a house it is a puz5
cling job to drive him away A certain
number OF beams or boards may be re-
moved, but their is no assurance that ne
Is not hiding in some OF the others.
They Tunnel Through the Earth.
Should the owner of the property make
q thorough investigation and prove con
clusively that he ants have attacked
only portion OF the house. and remove
that portion. he has no assurance that
the new material will not be attacked
This is because white ants are miners
OF great ability and industry. They do
not march boldly up to house, select
d piece Of wood foundation that seems
TO be good eating and from that point
carry o1 the campaign On the con
trary they are more likely 10 start
many feet from the house. build d tunnel
TO TIE foundations and then enter 10
seek what they may devour The conse-
quence OF this is that househoIders and
housewives frequently spend much
energy and time pouring poison over
ant infected doors. thinking that hey
are graduating the pests. when the ants
are really in their tunnels. and if they
have sense OF humor perhaps smoker
ing EudeIy at their enemies.
The central feature Of an ant colony
is the queen ant. whose special business
it is to lay eggs. After the colony has
received q start by the king and queen
raising a brood, the queen settles down
TO "a steady laying life. She is fed until
she Cannot walk and, in fact. cannot do /
anything except deliver eggs Species /
allied 10 the white ant have been OBJ I
served with great care and the concIu- /
sion reached that a queen who is feel /
ing any ways spry OF ct will lay sixty
eggs a minute or so 900 per day. Whether /
or not a true queen exists among the /
white ants is not known, but they have /
a supplementary queen which can lay 7.
eggs as fast as the queen, and serves /
every purpose in the way OF keeping the
colony supplied with young.
Minus Wings, But Get There.
The white ants seen flying around, J
as in the National Museum, are not !
the ones that do the damage. The fiers !
are the fully sexed individuals which I
are induIging IN an annual migratory /
movement The real depredators are /
The soft-bodied. large headed. milky /
white insects, less than a quarter Of /
an inch in length. which may be found /
under rottIng boards or decayng stumps /
These are the workers and soldiers. |
They are degraded or undeveloped IL
divlduals OF both sexes.
Workers and soldiers build the nests. /
dig the tunnels. feed the queen and
young and likewise make themselves
Useful TO their own community. and /
nuisaaces 10 everybody else. They exude !
peculiar nectar. on which the young
feed. and the queen IS also given a lib
eral supply. They are entirely blind.
and perish when exposed 10 the sun.
Nothing goes to waste among the
white ants. II there are too many ants