WHITE ANTS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 48, 27 February 1939, Page 8

WHITE ANTS

THE PEST IDENTIFIED AUCKLAND DISCOVERIES Identification of the ants responsible for serious damage to the offices of the Onehunga Building Society a.s the dreaded Australian mound-building white ant, Coptotermes lacteus, has been made by the assistant director and chief entomologist of the Cawthron Institute, Dr. David Miller, states the New Zealand Herald. It is presumed that the Australian white ant was also responsible for damage to the Onehunga municipal offices, which adjoin those occupied by the Onehunga Building Society. Other instances of the appearance of the Australian white ant in Auckland have also come to the notice of Dr. Miller, who describes the situation a.s very serious. Following the receipt of specimens, representatives of the institute visited the offices of the Onehunga Building Society on Friday and made intensive investigations. They then discovered what they describe as the royal chamber, this being a subterranean home of the ants, a-nd it was promptly destroyed. “1 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-fre-quently-expressed opinion that Australian and other exotic white ants, though reaching New Zealand for ?. number of years past, would never become established, much less become a serious problem, meaningless and misleading.” , Evkienc? Ovrj ! It us now revealed that, in the past few months there has been evidence over a wide area in Auckland of the intense destructiveness of lhe Australian white ant mentioned. At Narrow (Neck it was recently deemed necessary to destroy by fire a military building, the timbers of which were found to be but a hollow shell. Investigation showed that the Australian white ant was responsible, there being evidence of subterranean attack of lhe timbers. "The while ant Coptotermes lacteus 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 is 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 be found by this method if lhe interior has been tunnelled by

the ant The ants swarm on hot muggy days as a rule. They then have wings but afterwards they break off their wings and start their ramifications into timber.” It is disclosed that the Forestry Department regards the position seriously, and has been making investigations into the position in Auckland.