Evening star., 1914-04-12
SEIZURE Of INSECTS
AUTHORIZED BY LAW
Mrs. Morses Importation of Meadow
Ants in Glass With I'm
desirables.'
q. S. Government Constant on the
Alert to Prevent the Intro
duction of Pests

The recent seizure by tho New - !
customs authorities % the village -
meadow ants which Mrs. {. W Nor.
brought with her from Europe is only 80
episode in the perpetual war vaEoI
against undesirable immigrants. human
animal and vegetable Mrs Morsc-s vi
lase. like the one which reached Ph,i.-
delphia about fortnight before. was
probably byproduct Of the increased III
tcrest III nature study hut the Unit.,
states government NOT only discourage
such aids to amateur research. but abso
lutely prohibits them. By a Law passed
IN iaa' the Importation OF living ir
sects into this country i forbidden. ii
there are other laws which regulate i
strictly the Importation Of Larger an
nais that in MANY cases no discretion
left TO the authorities
The classic instance Of misguided On
thusiasm is the introduction in I>,gn -
the destructive gypsy moth hy scicntis,
a frenchman by birth. who an as
trononer in Harvard. Unfortunately -
was also ardent entomologist whu
lad devoted much Of his leisure time "a
the consideration of the silk worm IN
dustry. He conceived the idea of breed
ing harder worm which might with
stand the diseases which were then rar=
aging rearing establishments in France
and in pursuit of this purpose imported
some s%psy moths, intending to eros
them with some Of the native species
found in the United States
Cost Millions of Dollars.
It SO chanced. however that he left tn
window of his study in Medford Mass
open one day. When he returned a mas
of eggs laid By the gypsy visitors had dis
:tppeared-apparently the package had
4 blown out of the open window. At ths
point Trouvelot's experiments stouped
heir results did not. They are still Wit
US and have cost the country millions q
do lars. For twenty Years the gypsy mott
attracted no attention. The people of
Medford may have wondered AT the il.
struction of their trees but the da ma :,
remained local and the outside Worl,t
knew nothing of it, In lSs., however ti.,.
| pest suddenly became prominent. Sine.
that time bitter warfare has been
waged against il. but the victor is no
| yet won.
! Strangely enough. the automobile has
| proved an ally of the moth. Not oniy
does II stir up currents of air which
scatter the fallen and infected foliage
but it actually carries insects many miles
| into districts which have hitherto been
| immune On one occasion some yeaIS
a deliberate attempt was made to spread
| the pest. Eggs said to have been found
| IN California We're sent 10 the Depart
ment of Agriculture for examination and
| for time il seemed certain that in
some unaccountable way the pest hal
| Travelled across the entire continent In
restfgation revealed the fact. howevel
| that the man who forwarded the eggs
| had previously been employed in tightinr
the moth in Massachusetts. Upon tn.
| arrival of a scientist attached to the De
| partment. he left his home and remained
without address until the investigate
| had departed. There were no furthet
reports of the gypsy moth in California
| In this case the probable motive
visionary scheme to profit in some was
| from government appropriation to
| stamp out the pestilence.
Beans Swarming With Weevil.
Because of its traffic with China. Japan
and the South seas. San Francisco in pa
ticular is a favorite port of entry for
strange and obnoxious insects or would
be if the various exotic seeds. fruits and
plants which have attracted their atten-
ton in the orient and the tropics were
not ruthlessly taken from tine inconlinc
tourists. In one instance for example
some strange looking beans We're found t.
be swarming with weevil. The individual
from whom this precious prize was taken
action as a piece of petty interference
with personal hobby. but the govern
| ment saw in the beans not a hobby but
very vital danger to the vegetable gar
denS of the country.
More enterprising travellers have at
various times attempted to bring in as !
curiosity the Australian flying fox. Tn
known in this country, this overgrown
bat. which at its largest measures more
than five feet across the tips of its
wings. is of the greatest pests OF
Australia.
The mongoose is another creature which
individuals persist in bringing unlimited
to these shores. For this it is perhaps
| fair to hold Rudyard kipliug largely
| sponsible. The mongoose. which he ina
mortalized under the name of 'tRiki-Tiki-
| Tavi' in the jungle Book is a Yer
attractive little hero but no matter what
| the mongoose may be in India. in Anieri-
ca he is q nuisance Despite ovcrwhelun-
ing evidence of the havoc he creat"H
| however, he frequently appears a pet
| in charge of those who should know bet
ter
His presence in this hemisphere at all
is due to the mistaken notion that hr
would be Invaluable in ridding the can"
fields of the West indies of rats. In ~.
a Mr. Espent introduced nine of the am
mails. four males and five females, itlf"
Jamaica for this purpose. They increased
with startling rapdity. Evidenc" col
lected at that time showed that t..
harm the creatures did far outweighci
any benefit to the sugar and coffee plan
tatons
Proves Expensive Sport"
Still another instance of the ease with
which experiments Of this kind run ava
with the eXperimenters is the Australia
rabbit. Rabbits We're originally brougrt
to Australia to provide sport for TIE
early settlers. 1t proved expensive spof;.
Millions of dollars. says a report OF tn.
Department of Agriculture. have hetu
spent for bounties, poisons and various
other methods OF destruction. thousaE.-
of miles of rabbit-proof fences have been
built and hundreds of schemes for Dc
stroying the animals have been suggest
ed. but nothing has yet been found that
will effectually eXterminate the pest.
The necessity for rigid regulations that
such facts these have impressed upon
all progressive governments is rarely
recognized by the individual who for one
reason or another wishes to introduce a
plant a bird an animal a pet The
San Jose scale was brought into this
country from its original home in a re-