Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-10-29
IN THE CLUTCH OF BLACK ANTS.
What II Means to Be Releaaured
With Biggest Ants that Grow.

What II Means to Be Beleagured
With Biggest Ants that Grow.
Kansas City is beleaguered fore and
art, above and below by an invading
army OF big, black ants-buffaio ants.
the largest species of the ant family.
Inese must have been in the minds
OF the patient Job, who said in his
proverbs s'fhe ants are a people not
strong. yet they prepare their meat
in the summer" He might have add
ed that they also eat their meat; and
while the ant is actually not strong
he is comparatively one of the strong
est ANIMALS on this earth He can
grasp and transport a morsel of food
or building material 20 times his own
weight feat the elephant cannot
perform. The black ant possesses the
strongest jaws of any living creature,
which he uses as a derrick The ele-
plants trunk is not more useful or
more powerful comparatively than the
mandible of the black ant A physi-
elan noted for his skill and his knowl-
edge OF science, used to aver that
there is as much suffering in the
death agony of an ant as in that of
an elephant His Interpretation of the
law of Nature was doubtless correct.
The ant has a nervous sensibilty not
found in some of the larger animals.
Ants are highly intelligent, and may
be seen conversink with each other
through their antennae Such a fine
ly-organiZed creatures must possess
almost human susceptibilities to joy
and pain on this globe.
The ant is a great worker and a
great forager, yet he lays up nothing
for winter. The black ant, like the
black bear, hbernates in the winter
and lies dormant. Many scores of
people in Kansas City wish most de-
voutlY that the ant would lie dormant
both winter and summer. Especially
is that contamination most emphati-
eallv desirable when the summer is
afflicted with drouth. such as was
experienced during the summer just
past and now drawing to q close. But
the black ant will not recognize the
closing of the season until after
THANKSGIVING. September and Octo-
Der are the very best summer months.
according to the Black Ant almanac
rs tiit St~So-l NdseiiISS Tic bia0h ant
moves indoors, where he takes up his
abode and invites his friends to call.
The true name of the black ant. the
name recorded in all the books on en-
tomoiogy, is formica niger. This an
imai subsists upon the sweet juices
and saps of plants the fluids extract
ed from berries and fruits and from
the nectar of flowers. The plant world
failed this summer to produce the usu-
al How of sweet sap. This fact ac-
counts for the advent of the forrnica
niger indoors in such overwhelming
numbers during the first days of mid
summer. The formiea niger prefers
sugar in its natural state. but when
this cannot be procured from juicy
plants and fruits he will make out
very we'll on the sugar he finds in the
pantry.
The long drouth of the past summer
compelled the ants to organize forag-
ing parties and to resort to all man
ner of brigandage. No better BUSH
whacker ever lived than the black ant.
The candy merchants are especially
aggrieved on account of the invasion
of the formiea niger. Grocery stores
come next in the list of compliments.
No candy box or sugar barrel has yet
been invented that can exclude this
persistent and enterprising marauder.
The formica niger is not only the
largest of the ant family. but he is
also the wsest and the most dexterous
in locating and gaining access to
sweet edibles in drawers, bags and
boxes. He has the astonishing ability
of squeezing himself into crevices and
narrow cracks and no other insect
can pass through. And where one
goes the whole command will follow.
The captain of the squad leads the
way as skilfully as any human strate-
gst could do He is a tremendous an
noyance to the housewife. but she
knows how to meet and overcome the
black ant posse comitatus.
The ant from time immemorial has
been the acknowledged model for
wisdom and industry in which this
creature is not surpassed even by the
oney bee. These two insects are
very much alike in their social, politi-
cal and military habits. Both species
maintain regular forms of govern
ments. The black ant community Is
divided into three or more classes.
There are workers without wings. The
males and females have wings for a
few weeks and they rise into the air,
often to great heights. Descending,
they cut off the wings as mere impede
menta and at once enter the ground
and begin excavations for the abodes
of the new colony about to be formed.
This takes place early in the summer.
) These abodes soon become very popu-