New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-06
ANTS AND THE BOIL WEEVIL.

A short dispatch from Washington last week
about the possibility of suppressing the boil
weevil by means of a predatory ant excited the
curiosity Of many who are concerned about the
future of the cotton crop. Such people may find
it profitable to examine n long letter about the
latter insect which appears in the latest issue
Of Science" 1t was written by o. F. Cook
who has been in Guatemala for purposes of in
vestigation, and it partly answers n number Of
questions which were raised by the first brief
announcement.
4 few facts are mentioned from which one
might draw rather unfavorabe differences. Tho
ant visits the cotton plant primarily to obtain
the nectar secreted by It's blossoms Destruc-
ton of the weevil, though conducted with
promptness and dispatch, is a secondary OBJ
ject. Again. the ant does not contine its atten.
ton to any one species of vegetation or 10
the beetle which makes mischief with cotton.
It's tastes are varied and its wanderings extern
sive, Against these circumstances may be offset
two others, which are not without significance.
In several fields it was observed that the ants,
instead of congregating about their nests, were
widely distributed, two or three being found on
nearly every plant, as If engaged in systematic
inspection. 1t also appears that in the Alta
Vera PaZ district visited by Mr.. Cook the
annual cotton plant is practically free from tn.
weevil, though the pest abounds in the tree cot
ton in the same locality. In fact, ii was the sup
position that the former variety possessed some
inherent power OF resistance which led TO the
discovery of the protection afforded by the ant
In Guatemala the practical efficiency of this
agent is almost entirely dependent upon its
abundance. Places were occasionally seen
where there were not quite enough ants 10 90
around. Inasmuch as there were fewer hollis on
the cotton there than are found in the Gulf
States, that deficiency was suggestive. Hence
the most important doubt yet TO be overcome re-
lates to the possibility OF securing a sufficiently
large number Of the ants to save the cotton OF
this country. Hundreds of workers can be i'm
ported into the United States for experimental
purposes, but the propagation of n colony is the
work Of a queen as it is with bees. How far
human influences can promote the multiplication
Of queen ants is a question not easily answered.
The problem is different and more complicated
one than that which is involved in the artificial
Matching of shad and salmon When uncertainty
on this point is cleared up by the entomologists,
cotton growers will be better able than they are
now to estimate the value of this newly discov-
cred foe of the weevil.
Mr.. Cook believes that the variety OF ant
which he describes can be easily accmatiZed
north Of the Rio Grande. His chief reason for
thinking so is that the colonies now found in the
Alta Vera Paz district trace their ancestry TO
ants further 10 the westward. Both insects and
Indians have migrated to their present habitat
from cooler higher and drier region, which is
to-day the principal scene of cotton culture in
Guatemala. Tropical heat and humidity, there
fore, may be no more essential to the webeing
of the ant than to that OF the weevil which is
a comparatively newcomer to the United States.
Confidence in the hardihood of the ant is further
strengthened by the fact that it builds its nest
three or four feet below the surface of the
ground, well out Of the way OF frost and cold
waves. If then. a way is found to obtain sup
ply Of these insects ample enough TO destroy the
beetles that njure the cotton boll 1t seems prob
able that they will prosper in the country OF
their adoption as we'll as they did in the coun-
try of their nativity.