The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1904-05-29
Guatemala Furnishes a
Boil WeeviI Destroyer.
HE'SAN ANT, AND OURS
It is the Opinion That if the Boil Wee
vii Can Live in Texas So Can He
Who Dimes on His WeeYiI-
ship, and He's Com
ing.
(By the Associated Press.D

Washington, May 27.-The Depart
ment of Agriculture today announced
that an ant has been found in Guate-
mala that is an effective enemy of the
oil weevil 1t will be Immediately in
'oduced into the cotton States. The
reatest significance is attached to the
iscovery which was ma lie by q. f.
'ook, the botanist in charge of tropi-
al agricultural Investigations of the
;ureau of Plant Industry. Cabled in
tructions have been sent to him to
eport Immediately to he department
hat assistance he needs in the way Of
len and money.
During a trip in Central America
asst year Mr.. Cook discovered a cot
on, grown by Indians, which gave evil
ence of being immune from the at
acks of the boil weevil and on orders
rom the department he late began
n investigation in certain points in
guatemala and Mexico. Mr.. Cooks
Investigations have been in more or
eSS accessible regions in the province
# Alta Vera Paz, Guatemala. The
veevils are present there, but the in
'estigations show that they are un-
luestionably kept in check by the
presence of an active enemy in the
which is attracted to the cotton by
the food which it secures from sets
of focal hectares. Mr.. Cooks inves
legations show that these ants spread
themselves over fields of cotton four
or five to a plant and that they ere
constantly engaged in the destruction
of the boil weevil. Mr.. Cook report
that the adroit and business-like way
in which the weevil is disposed of
10
the ant is, by structure and by in
stinct especially equipped for the
work of destruction, and is, in short,
the true explanation of the fact that
cotton is successfully cultivated by
the Indians of Alta Vera Pa, in spite
of the presence of the boil we"Nil
After a conference with DIR. B. T.
Galloway, chief of the Bureau of Plant
Industry, DIR. l.. O. Howard, chief of
the chronological division, and other
experts, Secretary Wilson, today had
a special bulletin on the subject print
ed. Among others things this bulle-
tin says:
''The ants, like the Indian, probably
came from the dry, open interior
plateau region, where the center Of
the aboriginal cotton industry of
Guatemala is still located. To estap-
liSh the fact of such an origin for
this useful insect would greatly in
crease the probability Of its successful
introduction into the United States.
The acciimatization of a thoroughly
tropical animal requiring continuous
heat and humidity could scarcely be
hoped for. If, however, the cotton ant
can survive a long dry season and per-
haps cold weather in the table lands
of Guatemala, it might easily learn
to hibernate in Texas, as has the boil
an &c 1hlp
to protect itself against frost, since
it excavates nest three feet or more
into the ground. Several have SUI :
vived confinement for twelve dag]
without food and seem now to be
thriving on a diet of cane juice. TO
take worker ants to Texas Will re-
evidently a very easy matter, put TO
may require considerable time and ex-
pertinent and thorough STUDY of all
the habits of the species.
although the cotton seems ID re
especially adapted to attract the ant
by means of it's numerous necsarl@S,
the insect is not, like some OF Tie
members of its class, confined TO d S'n-
gle plant or to a single klpd OF prey
1t attacks and destroys insects of every
order. Including the hemiptera and
even centipedeS. On the other hand,
it does not do the least injury to the
cotton or to any other plant, so far
as has been ascertained, and 1T can be
handled with impunity. having none
of the wasping ill-temper or so many
of the singing and biting ants of the
tropics Since where once established
it exists in large numbers and seeks its
prey actively, it is much more eff
cient destroyer of noxious insects than
the spider or the toad 1t seems, in
short not unlikely to become valued
assistant in the agriculture OF tropical
and sub-tropical countries, if not in
temperate regions The farmer has
a new and practical reason to consider
the ant