Nomadic ants: description, features, interesting facts and reviews

The world around us is fraught with many mysteries and surprises. It is so rich in a variety of species that it is impossible for a simple person to comprehend all the subtleties of nature. Particularly numerous representatives of the animal world are insects.

Ants nomadic - features of insects

Every man in his life met ants. These tiny toilers always cause admiration and surprise in people. Their work is organized to the smallest detail. Every inhabitant of an anthill works for the common good. But did you know that there are a lot of varieties of these insects? And some of them are very dangerous.

African nomadic ants got their name because of the peculiarities of their behavior. They do not create their anthill in a certain place, but lead a nomadic way of life, migrating colonies from one locality to another.

The movement of the column occurs in the daytime. For 1 hour ants can overcome from 100 to 300 m. The width of the column can reach 15 m. Then it narrows, forming a kind of tail, the length of which can stretch for 45 m.

Nomadic ants, moving around in entire colonies, sweep away everything in their path. These insects are dangerous for both animals and humans. The ant's bite is very painful, and can cause an allergic reaction in a person, which in turn can lead to anaphylactic shock and suffocation.

Habitat of insects

Not only in Africa there are nomadic ants. The habitat of these insects is the tropics. Therefore, you can see them on two American continents, in Central and South Asia. Insects like the tropical and subtropical climate.

Description of the species

The colony can reach 22 million individuals. The largest is the uterus. Its length in the period of laying is 5 cm, which is a record among various kinds of ants. The uterus is able to produce a huge number of individuals, so the number of colonies does not decrease. Some insects perish, but new nomadic ants immediately come to take their place.

The craving for migration is observed only in two subspecies:

• Ecitoninae.
• Dorylinae.

During the movement, ants soldiers are responsible for defense, so they are concentrated around the edges of the column. The internal part is occupied by workers who drag the future litter and food.

Since the movement of the column occurs only in the daytime, at night the ants create a nest of live labor, whose diameter is about one meter. Insects cling to each other paws, forming a secluded place for their queen and her offspring. To create such a nest, about 150 - 700 thousand individuals are involved.

Migration lasts a short time, only a few days, after which a sedentary phase occurs, which lasts from several weeks to 3 months. During this period, the uterus lays a huge number of eggs (100 - 300 thousand) and by the end of the camp, larvae will appear from them. At the same time, from the cocoons of the previous offspring, adults - adults - come out.

Further, the colony is put forward. As soon as the larvae begin to pupate, the time of the next stop will come.

Food of insects

The favorite delicacy of ants are such insects as:

• wasp;
• bee;
• termite.

Nomadic ants of the African continent also feed on carrion, and it does not matter what corpse of which animal they eat, large or small. Wandering insects mercilessly absorb everything that meets them on the way:

• Different types of insects;
• Snakes;
• Bird's nests;
• Small invertebrates;
• Amphibians.

The ants stab into the victim and inject into it a dose of toxic, poisonous substance. Since the speed of insects is not too big (up to 20 km / h), their production is usually weak, sluggish and wounded little animals.

Are there enemies of nomadic ants?

Strangely enough, but such a dangerous insect, like a nomadic ant, still has an enemy - it's a mantis. But the organization of the colony of ants is so high that even with such a foe insects can easily cope. After seeing the mantis, one of the ants rushes to him and bites his jaws, injecting poison. Even if the insect perishes, the other individuals, after seeing such a signal, group and rebuff the offender. In this case, the mantis is not envied, he is in danger of dying.

Because of such a collective organization of the column, no one risks hunting ant ants.

How many live these insects?

Few people know that the life expectancy of an ant queens reaches 10 to 15 years. Other individuals of the colony live much less, from 2 months to 2 years maximum. In laboratory conditions, the life expectancy of individual insects was 4 years.

Fascinating facts about wandering ants

• Nomadic ants-killers, which carry a mortal danger to mankind, are a complete fiction created by the cinema industry. Of course, insect bites are a big threat to people who are allergic to toxic substances, but there have been no recorded cases of human death. Therefore, it would be unfair to call the ants of nomads murderers.
• These insects are excellent nurses. They clear agricultural plantations from various pests.
• On the African continent, nomadic ants are the most dangerous predators.
• Insects are able to move in the footsteps of their relatives.
• The ants completely lack sight, but they have a well developed hearing.
• The queen in the colony has no rights. Its task is to deduce a new offspring.
• The peoples of Central Africa leave their homes and take away cattle as soon as information appears that the column of ants is moving towards their settlement.
• If the nomadic ants are moving in the direction of the prison, then prisoners who have not committed serious crimes and are not sentenced to death are released for the time of invasion of insects.

Types of dangerous ants

In our regions we often meet ants, but they do not pose a danger to humans, which is not true of some species living in tropical climates. There are species that contain aggressive poison. Dangerous are:

1. Siafu - nomadic army ants. The habitat is Australia. The insect has powerful jaws. Like other species of wandering ants, there is no permanent anthill. Insects build a bivouac (temporary dwelling), which consists of the bodies of working individuals. Bites are dangerous to humans, since they can cause allergies.
2. Ants are bullets. These insects have a very strong poison - ponerotoxin. The bite brings a terrible pain that does not subside within a day. This species of insects is found in the tropics and subtropics of the Southern American continent. Tribes of the Indians used these ants for initiation rites. The young man was clinging to his hand a bracelet, which was hung with insects. The ants bitten the boy, after which his limbs were paralyzed for 2-3 days, and the places of the bite were black. The worst thing is that a young man must undergo this execution 20 times, and only after that he can be considered a real man.
3. Fiery. This kind of ants is very dangerous for humans. In one year, there were about 20 deaths after the bite, which caused the strongest allergic reaction. Habitat: Asia, the south of Europe and America. Ants easily adapt to the environment, populating unknown areas. The poison of a fiery ant is called salinopsin. The bite feels like a pain from a burn, it provokes the formation of a tumor.
4. The ant bulldog. A large insect that is very poisonous. Three out of a hundred bitten experienced anaphylactic shock. It is very difficult to foresee what will be the reaction of the body to such a poison, because it is very different in its chemical composition from the toxins contained in the sting of bees and wasps.

Nomadic ants, the description of which was considered in the article, is really amazing representatives of the animal world. Their organization and coordinated work can only be envied.