Red or Fire Reaper Ants

Red ants, or, as they are also called, fire ants, got their name for their bright red color and extremely painful bites, after which the skin burns, as if from a burn.

Settling in a house, small aggressors are able to literally evict a person from their home, creating an unbearable environment for living. They eat food supplies, stain everything in the house with their secretions, spoil things and bite very painfully.

It is very difficult to get rid of red ants, as they are practically immune to pesticides and reproduce very quickly, filling the house with themselves in a rather short period of time.

How do they look?

Red ants are relatively small in size. The average body length of an adult is about 4-5 mm. Color can vary from bright red to dark and almost black. Freshly hatched young insects have a clear, white skin.

Like all insects of this species, the red ant has a distinct division of the body into three departments:

• the head
• chest
• abdomen.

They are interconnected by a narrow segmented jumper, giving them flexibility and mobility.

The head is equipped with powerful jaw-mandibles that slam like a trap when bitten. In addition to protection, ants also use them when carrying food and other items. On the sides of the head there is a pair of eyes of a complex, faceted structure and three simple eyes located in the upper region. They distinguish between motion and light, but have a low resolution. Sensitive, mobile antennae complement the senses, allowing the ant to get a clear picture of the world through the touch and touch of surrounding objects.

The chest carries six strong, muscular legs, ending at the end with a hooked claw. Thanks to this device, insects can easily move along walls and ceilings.

The abdomen has a segmented structure. In size, it is much superior to the rest of the body. The digestive and reproductive organs are located in the abdomen. In workers, it is equipped with a sharp sting, which insects use to defend and attack.

Interesting fact! Ants have a quite “developed” language of communication in relation to other insects. They transmit information using antennae and secreted pheromones.

Lifestyle

Ants are one of the most amazing insects that are only found in nature. To begin with, without a sufficiently developed brain, they are able to carry out clearly organized joint actions to protect their family and obtain food. The ant family structure is even more amazing. There is a division into specialized groups, each of which performs its own, strictly defined work.

The structure of the ant colony

Red ants have the following colony structure:

• individuals reproducing offspring;
• working ants;
• brood.

The uterus is a female, continuously laying eggs throughout her life. Red ants have several of them, which contributes to the rapid reproduction of these insects.The uterus, or as it is also called the queen, looks very similar to the working individuals, however, unlike them, it is large.

The working red ant is a female with an underdeveloped ovipositor. Their main function is to collect food, protect the family and care for the younger generation. Working ants, like the uterus, develop from fertilized eggs, but the development of the ovipositor in them stops.

Brood - eggs, larvae and pupae, located deep in the bowels of the nest. They are completely helpless and entirely dependent on the care of their working nanny ants.

What do they eat?

Red ants are omnivores. In the wild, they feed on plant sap, grass seeds, insects, tree fruits, and dead animals. On occasion, they will attack a wounded animal, a helpless cub, a chick. Even a person can become their victim if he cannot escape from them in time.

Settling in human dwellings, red ants eat cereals, bread, butter, sugar, meat, fruits, vegetables. Any products that are not removed on time from the table can serve as food for them. They do not disdain clothes made from natural fabrics, leather bindings of books, wallpaper glue. They will eat paper, cardboard and cellophane if they pack anything tasty for them. Red ants, having settled in the apartment, can even enjoy insulating windings, often causing a short circuit in electric wires and fires.

Where live?

In nature, red ants settle, as a rule, closer to the source of food and water. They form especially large colonies in tropical forests with a hot climate and high humidity. In the conditions of the city, they arrange their nests under the asphalt surface of sidewalks and roads, traffic lights, street phones.

Making their way into houses, insects settle everywhere where there is a space more or less suitable for them in size. Especially often they can be found in the following places:

• inside household appliances;
• computers;
• air conditioners;
• under the baseboards;
• between ceilings;
• in the kitchen cabinets;
• under lagging wallpaper.

Under the protection of human buildings, in warmth and satiety, they breed with incredible speed, as the colony grows, capturing more and more new spaces, eventually spreading throughout the house.

Advice! Boric acid, which acts on insects as a contact insecticide, will help get rid of ants in the house. It is mixed with boiled egg yolk, sugar or honey and laid out around the house as a poisonous bait.

How do they breed?

Red ants reproduce sexually. They have females and males emerging from the nest shortly before breeding. They, unlike asexual individuals, have wings and can fly. Mating usually occurs in the air above the anthill, after which the males die and the females look for a suitable place to create a colony.

Having laid eggs, the females gnaw off their wings and lose their ability to fly. All the time, until the appearance of working ants, they do not feed and exist only due to previously accumulated nutrient reserves. They feed the first larvae hatching from eggs with a specially secreted secret, and when workers leave the cocoons, they are exclusively engaged in laying eggs.

The development of red ants follows the pattern of complete transformation of insects. It includes the following stages:

• egg
• larva
• chrysalis
• imago.

Eggs are very small - up to 0.5 mm in length. They are white and covered with a white shell. The worm-shaped larvae emerging from them are little adapted to independent life. Nursing ants are engaged in their feeding and nursing, which rarely leave the nest and receive food from working individuals. In the process of its development, the larva goes through 4 stages of molting, which end with pupation. From the pupa, depending on the specialization, a female, male or working ant emerges.

Interesting fact! Males and females of red fire ants can breed by independent cloning! The uterus in this case develops from an unfertilized egg, and the males from the fertilized, in which the female chromosomes are destroyed. Working individuals emerge exclusively from fertilized eggs.

Harm

Red ants are real pests. They eat human food, spoil stocks, destroy crops, and damage health.

The poison that the red ant secrets has a pronounced toxic effect. In addition to pain, it causes severe allergic reactions in the form of hyperemia of the skin, swelling, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. In rare cases and when attacked by a large number of insects, anaphylactic shock and death can occur.

Settling near agricultural land, ants are able to completely empty the fields, destroying crops and eating crops directly on the vine. Pets can also suffer from their raids, resulting in reduced productivity and weight gain.

Red ants in an apartment often cause a fire, damaging the wiring and thereby causing a short circuit. They also spoil food supplies, eating them, gnawing clothes, furniture, things.

Interesting fact! Every year in America, about 3 dozen people die from the bites of red fire ants!

Distribution area

The birthplace of the red fire ant is South America. Traveling with merchant ships and passenger transport, they spread throughout the American continent and nearby islands. Colonies of these insects are found in Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Israel, and China.

In Russia, no cases of infection have yet been noted, which is explained by harsh winters and the absence of a hibernation period among red ants. However, given the high adaptability of these insects and climate mitigation, their appearance is likely. In this case, both agriculture and megacities can be attacked.

An interesting way to destroy the nests of red ants and get an exotic sculpture can be found in this video: