AN ANT, THAT EATS BABIES

New Zealand Times, Volume LII, Issue 12181, 4 July 1925, Page 16

AN ANT, THAT EATS BABIES

UNWELCOME VISITOR TO ENGLAND. The Argentine ant. which is dangerous both as a carrier of disease and a consumer of human fcod and even of human flesh, recently arrived in Europe in lairee numbers. They have been known frequently to attack babies (says "Discovery”), and may' be said even to contest the supremacy of man in his own domain. Although this pest has been observed in the regions of Eastbourne and Dublin, in Germany, and the South of France, so far its activities have been kept in check by the climate. Th© anls, it is said, attack small chickens. bees, and small birds, which they quite easily consume, and they have been known to bite children to death and eat their flesh. They swarm over homes and farms. Their chief enemies are said to be spiders and water, but they have been known to cross water by forming themselves into balls. Although the British climate is keeping the Argentine ants at bav. their de-l-predations are to be feared, and procautions will have to be taken in the near future to prevent their spreading.