The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1904-06-24
A LITTLE RED ANT
That Is Worth More to the South
Than all Rockefeller's Millsons,
IT DESTROYS THE BOIL wEEv1L

1T DESTROYS THE BOIL WEEvIL
That Has Been Eating the Cotton
Crop of Texas, and Menaoed
the Cotton Crop of the
A little red ant That lives In Guate-
mala, South America, turns out to be
natures own antidote to the boil wee
vii. This ant lives on the cotton plant,
but does 1t no harm. and 1t is its par
ticuliar delight to kill the boil weevil
wherever 1t finds it.
Professor o. H. Cook, Of the United
States Bureau Of Entomology, is now
in Guatemala studying the habits Of
the red ant and arranging to breed him
by the million in our Southern cotton
fields. The ant has already been in
troduced in Texas to find out now he
would behave away from home, and he
has promptly cleaned out the weevil
from 600 acre cotton field.
Ithas taken j ohm ID. Rockefeller, the
richest man in the world, fifty years to
slye his 81, 900, 100000 In view of
the rapidly widen ny zone of des rue
tion Of the wcevil pest, it is figured
that The little Guatemalan ant will
save the cjtton growers of the South
more than a Thousand million dollars
worth Uf cotton in ten years.
hn fol t;nln nh c
little red ant will be read with inter
est.
Just why certain small red ant,
native OF Guate nala. S ,uth America,
specially delights in killing the cot
ton-boll ueevil Is not yet quite clear to
the experts Of the Bureau Of Entomo-
logy of the United States Department
of Agriculture. This will be studied
out later on.
Whatever other matters this ant
have on hand it will lay them aside
long enough to destroy every wecvil
that comes within it's reach. The ant
rushes at the weevil, seizes 1t by the
throat with its "feelels" and holding
it with a firm grasp the ant cruShes in
the weevilS skull with its saw toothed
tusks. For some reason not yet under
stood the ant then takes the trouble
TO climb down the cotton plant witt
the corpse OF the weevil and carry it
away. 1t does not eat it.
When it comes to tackle, the boil
weevil has small chances against the
ferociouS ant. The latter has great
advantage in seize, and is provided
with Il strong mouth and sharp teetl
or tusks for biting. The wecvil is &C
Tive, but has only Il thick sucking
snout and cannot possibly get away
from the ant, which is able both tt
run fast and jump considerable dis
tance, If necessary.
Not only the beetle-Shaped, full
grown weevil, bat also the immature
larvae or grub Of the wecvil are de-
stroyed by the ants. These worms
feeding inside the cotton bolls, are
hunted by the ants, which crawl ir
through the holes previously bored 10y
] the adult weevils, when they went il
to lay the eggs. The ants tear the
larvae to pieces, apparently with a
fury OF anger.
, These facts have already been re-
ported to the Bureau Of Entomology
by Prof. Cook, who is still inyeStigat
Ing the ants among the COTTON field.
;, nf the Indians In Guatemala. Further
. evidence of the successful work Of the
! ant comes from Bexar County, Texas
9 where a colony Of the ants were turn
. ed lOOSe on trial this Summer. The
! Secretary Of Agriculture has received
a dispatcn from San Antonio, Texas
stating that two fields of cotton, GOV
ering about six hundred acres. have
been entirely cleared OF the boll-wee
Q vii by millions Of ants, now swarminl
I, on the plains.
The roads near the field are said Il
be filled with ants carrying OIL TIN
t dead boll-weevils. Secatary Wilson
has directed expert entOmologist con
nectcd with his Department, who ar
s now in Texas, to remain in the cotto
fields and study the ant and his hab
! its and customs and best methods O
4 breeding them in enormous quantities
The tremendous Importance attach
o ed to the discovery of natures enem
n of the weevil may be easily realiz
when it is understood that this weevi
has borne promise of becoming tn
most destructive enemy ever encOunt
cred by man. Last year it deStroye
$40, 279, ,9S6.6l worth of cott II i
: Texas, to which State it is rs yet con
fined. But it is marching steadil
onward at the rate of fifty miles pc
annum, and unless something can b
J. done to check its progress it will 500
J. have spread all over the cotton belt G
y the South. When that is accomplish
. ed it may cause annul loss Of $3.50, ,O0C
900.
. Such, up to now, has been the appal
0 ing prospect. Bat the outlook is sud
II denly changed by the discovery of th'
ant, which Is the long sought foe @
: the weevil. It's favorite occupation
S Is the killing of bugs of this species
J. and, when it arrives on a Gotten plant
there is no further chance for the pes
j tiferous insects. 1t murders them
t every one.
The discovery OF the ant was no
u merely lucky accident. For th
q last ten years the Government Burca,
y Of Entomology has been trying to TIM
S an enemy of the cotton boil weevil
ii with a view to introducing it in TIL
o infested belt. Expert bug hunter
n have travelled all over Mexico, Cub
i and Central America in pursuit of tn,