ANTS RAID PANTRIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19119, 10 September 1925, Page 7

ANTS RAID PANTRIES.

PEST IN SOME DISTRICTS. METHODS OF DESTRUCTION. A small variety of ant, ono of the si* species into New Zealand from Australia, has become a distinct nuisance in some districts of the ctyy.; A correspondent who has asked loi Imcans of getting rid of tho pest, states that ants make spasmodic raids upon her pauliy and occasionally spoil jjwn,' an 4 'sHgar. Cold mutton also attracts them. ■ • ' Mr. J. W. Poyntori, 8.M., states that nnls can be got rid of with ease if a house is sufficiently high from tho ground to enable one to get at their nest, that is either in, the ground or in a block of wood. To locate the nest tho best method is to scatter flour over the raiding party and tbeu watch below the floor for the returning procession, which will form jill the. sponer. if attractive food is loft within easy reach. The white-coated insects aro readily Been and when tho nest is located it should be dug out and disinfectant or other poison used to destroy all the ants that have not boen crushed.

The whole object is to kill the queen of the form icarium—and there is only one queen. Without a queen the colony, or what is left of it, will migrate in search of another. If there is difficulty about getting at the nest, a good plan ir. to dissolve a little arsenate of sodium in treacle and lay the poisoned food near the nest. The ants will gorge themselves on it or transport it to the nest, where most likely the queen will eat it and die.