WHITE ANTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 31, 7 February 1939, Page 11

WHITE ANTS.

IN AUCKLAND AREA. | I DEFINITELY IDENTIFIED. DAMAGE TO WOODWORK. Instances of tlie appearance of white ants in Auckland have been brought under the notice of the entomologist of the Cawthron Institute, and he has identified the variety as the Australian mound-builder Coptotermes lacteue. Representatives of the institute visited tlie premises of the Onehunga Building Society last week and inspected the damage done there by the ants and discovered what they described as the "royal chamber," or subterranean home, of tlie ante, its presence being revealed by a inound on the surface of the ground. This they promptly destroyed. The Onehunga municipal offices adjoining the premises of the building society have been damaged by ants. "I fear that the magnitude of the white ant position in the Dominion is by no means fully appreciated by the public," said Dr. Miller, in a statement on the subject. "The too frequently expressed opinion that Australian and other exotic white ants, though reaching Xew Zealand for a number of years past, would never become established, much less become a serious problem, is meaningless and misleading. "The position indicated by recent observations in the Dominion is that tlie position is really a serious one for timber users, especially when one considers that most of our buildings are of wood and unprotected from white ant attack. For some time we have been accustomed to certain Australian and New Zealand white ants attacking our timbers; none of these, however, appears yet to be of major destructiveness when compared with the Australian Coptotermes lacteus. In Australia it is considered a species most destructive to wooden buildings." Much Evidence.

Investigations show that there bas been much evidence in the Auckland district lately showing the presence of white ants. It was found necessary ft short time ago to destroy by fire R military bnildina at Narrow Neck, the timber* -f which had become a mere shell o\\ ii Ijr to the work of white anta. "The white ant is responsible for millions of pounds' worth of damage in Australia," said Mr. H. H. Corbin, formerly professor of forestry at Auckland University College. "Now that it clearly is established here, the sooner a campaign to destroy colonies ie started the better. It must be a systematic process. There is usually no outside evidence of the presence of ants in woodwork. "The chief method of discovery is to stick a thin probe into the wood. It will soon l>e found by this method if the interior has been tunnelled by the ant. The ants swarm on hot, muggy days as a rule. They then have wings, but afterward they break off their wings and start their ramifications into timber." The Forestry Department has also been making investigations into the position in Auckland.