Fiery Ants: description and photo

To date, "killer ants", dangerous to humans, exist, but they are not very large. As they say, in fear, eyes are great. Frightening stories about fire ants have acquired the status of legends from the person who likes to spoil his nerves by lying on the couch.

There is still some truth in these stories. Dangerous ants in our world do exist, but they have a completely different name. Biologists in their scientific language began to call them "fiery ants" for the ability to inflict a painful scalding bite.

Some facts from the history

Initially, these dangerous insects occupied Brazil, it is considered their homeland. In 1900, when the trade in cattle began to be established, dangerous interventionists settled in the United States. This "live" cargo with harmful insects was on merchant ships, which by sea brought it to a new habitat.

The fiery ants began to multiply in countless numbers. There were no natural enemies here, the climate is quite suitable to feel comfortable - this is a great success for harmful insects, it was sinful not to use it. The ants moved on to California, occupying new territories.

If by the beginning of the 20th century the most dangerous ants in the world were limited to the territory of South America, now they are in Mexico, in the South of America, on the islands of the Caribbean. The habitat of fire ants became the lands of Australia, Malaysia, the Philippines, China.

Fire creatures inflicted merciless bites on farmers, wild and domestic animals. They besieged agricultural land and buildings, destroyed grain stocks. Their anthills were erected on the tracks where mowers should pass. All this undermined the image of the capitalist countries.

Red Fire Ant: Description

Who are they, what do these little "monsters" look like? The appearance resembles a normal ant, the difference between them is only in color. Fiery ants, whose photos are in front of you, have a reddish tint, hence their name. Their name is also due to the ability to burn at the time of bite. These are small insects. The length of the body depends on the external conditions of habitation and is 2-6 mm. The body is divided into three main parts: head, chest, abdomen. The head and chest are lighter than the abdomen. Like other representatives of this family, the red fiery aggressors have six strong legs.

Ants are classed as insects with a complete transformation. Their development consists of four stages:

1. Eggs.
2. The larva.
3. Pupa.
4. An adult insect.

The larva resembles a helpless creature similar to a worm. She can not move and eat alone. It is serviced by working individuals, until the larva, having passed several stages of molting, does not gain the right mass to become a pupa.

On the last day before the transformation takes place, the larva stops taking food and releases the intestines. Workers take care of the doll, and at the right time help her to leave the cocoon.

The way of life of the most dangerous insects

Ants are considered insects, which can cause considerable surprise. You can start with the fact that these creatures that do not have a developed brain, when protecting the family and extracting food, operate quite clearly and in an organized manner. They are also surprised by the structure of their community. The most dangerous insects, fire ants, live in an anthill built in their own strength, and their reproduction also passes there. Reproductive individuals have the ability to reproduce by cloning, mating only to the withdrawal of sterile workers. In all her life, the queen gives numerous offspring (about a quarter of a million ants). The diet of these ants consists of plant and animal food, they do not distinguish it and eagerly eat both kinds. In general, insects with a predilection eat sprouts of herbaceous plants, shoots of small shrubs. The diet includes different types of insects, larvae, caterpillars. Fire creeps often attack even mice, frogs and snakes, do not ignore the corpses of large animals.

During the attack on the victim, ants by a large group climb their legs to her body. They dig into the skin with a mouth apparatus and inject a sting. This is how a considerable dose of poison enters the animal's body, which is toxic. At the site of the bite, the skin begins to burn hard, there are intolerable painful sensations.

Structure of a family of fiery ants

An ant family is an organized community. It includes:

1. The brood.
2. Adult individuals.
3. Infertile females (workers).

An ant family can consist of several dozen individuals, but sometimes it grows into real colonies, consisting of millions of individuals living in large areas. Large families are mostly wingless infertile females, from which castes of workers, soldiers and various other groups are formed.

Almost every family has males and one, sometimes several reproductive females, which have a very beautiful name - the queen, the queen. Fire ants work as one, so the family is called a super organism. Such parallels with the people's society, such as the division of labor, self-organization in difficult situations and connections between family members, have long attracted the attention of scientists.

Source of fire ants

Ants live with their families in nests, which represent earth mounds and are called anthills. This source of insects is built in the soil, under a stone or in wood. Some people use small particles of plants to build an anthill.

Between the nests of fire ants, tunnels are laid through which they freely move in different directions. In search of food can wander for a long time, often during such encounters encounters with representatives of another colony. During such undesirable dockings, between the belligerent goose bumps, fighting begins.

To stop at a halt, where an anthill of fiery ants is located, is unsafe for a person who has allergic reactions. After all, ants have not only an awesome appearance, their attack can lead to irreversible processes in the body of a living being.

The danger that a fire ant poses

These tiny shivers can destroy the fauna, cause great loss to the bird and domestic animals, they kill weaker ants. It can be said that all living things are horrified by these insects and flee from them.

People are dislike for miniature "monsters" for their ability to destroy all the stocks of products. In urban apartments ants equip their nest in electrical appliances, which leads to the closure of the latter, and in rare cases - to a fire.

Another reason for the great danger of this kind of ants for a man lies in the toxic poison that they possess. The statistics confirm that the bites of fire ants end in death for approximately 30-35 people per year. This is due to the fact that the poison has a neurotoxic and necrotic effect and contains a saline alkaloid.

First aid with a "monster" bite

At the first suspicion of a bite of dangerous insects, you should quickly move away from the place where the source of fire ants is located. Do this carefully, so as not to cause disturbances in the "family". Usually, watchdogs are the first to start biting. Shake off insects will not work, so you need to carefully remove from clothing and body parts. They can not be crushed, because the crushed ants exude a smell, in which other members of the family receive a signal of danger and immediately begin a new attack.

After this, it is necessary to relieve the affected area of the skin from the clothing in order to reduce swelling. Rinse this place, then put a cold compress on it. Be sure to take an antihistamine. Then seek help from a medical facility. Procrastination can be expensive, because the poison is a powerful allergen, which is often the cause of pulmonary edema.

The ways to combat "fiery monsters"

In the US, billions of dollars are spent annually to fight the fiery little "terrorists," but there are still no tangible results. In this country fire ants were given the name - imported insects. To combat them, pesticides are used, spraying them with helicopters. Manually try to eliminate the source of fire ants, digging and destroying the nests, pouring boiling water in them. But the results of all these actions are zero.

As they say in the people, every "villain" has his own government, including small biting aggressors. The most effective and unusual way to destroy these insects was a fly that kills fiery ants. Meet - this brave warrior is called a fly-humpback. She lays eggs in a living insect, from which a larva develops, which, using a special enzyme, gnaws the ant head. This head serves the fly as a living incubator.

Fiery Ant in Russia

In Russia, tropical "barbarians" are very rare. For them, the severe climatic conditions of the country are not suitable. But in one Moscow hospital once were found fiery ants. Basically, although there are these insects, these are small colonies that settle next to people in warm homes. On the territory of Russia red and red ants live. They though are called fiery, but not as aggressive as their tropical counterparts. These insects nest their nests in coniferous and deciduous forests. Shivers of this kind destroy harmful insects, which is considered important for people.