What are the most dangerous ants in the world. Killer ants are the most dangerous in the world
Killer ants are bloodthirsty insects whose bites can provoke a severe allergic reaction, the consequences of which can be very unpredictable up to suffocation and deadly intoxication of the body. Therefore, it is best not to meet with such insects.
The main habitat of killer ants is Africa. But this does not mean at all that they live in the same place. Some of them do not even have an anthill at all and are constantly moving, thereby constantly posing a threat to the local population and even large animals.
Killer ants are mostly found in Africa.
This is explained, first of all, by the fact that it is in this part of the world that many local residents consider them to be real killers and, when they appear, do not start fighting them, but rather leave their homes and take all the animals with them, leaving their homes as far as possible. Unfortunately, this is far from fiction, since these insects really destroy all life in their path.
As for our regions, it is absolutely impossible to meet such insects, since they choose an exclusively tropical climate for their residence.
At this time, the most dangerous species in the world are those that contain a fairly aggressive poison. These include:
- fire ants;
- yellow ants;
- bullet ant;
- bearded reaper ant;
- nomadic army ant - siafu;
- bulldog ant.
Bullet ants are considered one of the most dangerous, as they have a very strong poison. Their bite delivers simply unbearable pain that accompanies the affected area throughout the day. The main habitat of such insects are the tropics and subtropics.
Another fairly serious and dangerous ant for humans is the fire ant. The bite of this insect causes a severe allergic reaction in a person, which leads to the death of a person. The peculiarity of these ants also lies in the fact that they easily adapt to completely unfamiliar territories. As for the bite of these insects, they feel more like pain from a burn, which in turn still provokes the formation of a tumor.
The bite of a fire ant causes a severe allergic reaction in a person.
To poisonous insect also include yellow ants, which can only be found in Arizona. After the bite of this insect, not only significant swelling appears on the surface of the body, but a strong allergic reaction develops, which very often ends in death.
Bearded reaper ants are mainly distinguished by the fact that they do not do any harm to agriculture at all, as they feed on cereals and cereal grains. Among other things, these ants are completely safe for humans, on the contrary, they help to destroy various pests in the fields.
In Australia, there is another species of ants that pose a danger to human health. This is a siafu nomadic army ant. The danger of this insect lies in the fact that it has sufficiently powerful jaws, and its bites provoke the development of serious allergic reactions.
One of the largest and most dangerous ants is the bulldog. As practice shows, out of a hundred bitten by this insect, they experience anaphylactic shock.
As mentioned earlier, the most dangerous ants in the world are rightfully called killers. These insects can not only lead to the death of an animal, but also of a person, especially for those who are prone to allergic reactions.
Each of these ants leads a certain way of life and eats in completely different ways. For example, reaper ants are herbivorous insects that feed mainly on cereals and grains. Currently, about ten varieties of these ants are known in nature, five of which can be found on the territory of Russia.
These insects live in special nests that they build on their own at a depth of about ten meters. Activity is mainly shown at night. A feature of these ants is also that they collect grains from the ground without injuring the growing ear at all.
In their anthills, reaper ants build special storage chambers for grains.
Note! In their anthills, reaper ants build special storage chambers for grains, in which they can place about fifty kilograms of grains per season.
As for fire ants, they prefer to live exclusively in a warm environment closer to agricultural land. Ants live in nests, and can also hide in underground passages at a depth of about one meter. Insects feed exclusively on pests that affect agricultural crops such as rice, legumes and sugar cane, as well as larvae, shoots and stems of plants.
Yellow killer ants can only be found in the US state of Arizona. This ant is considered very dangerous, as it can lead to death with just one bite.
Yellow Arizona Ant
The bullet ant is a rather dangerous insect and has an impressive size. This insect lives in South America. These insects prefer to live in small colonies in nests, which are built at the base of tree trunks and in some cases right on them.
The bullet ant prefers to get food in dark time days. Ants feed mainly on insects, both living and dead, as well as tree sap.
African Siafu killer ants prefer to live in the tropical forests of the African continent. For their habitat, these insects build anthills, which are formed by clutching the limbs of insects. In the middle of such an anthill sits the uterus. These insects are distinguished by the fact that they can freely roam for up to ten days, after which they set up a camp. These ants feed on absolutely everything that comes in their way. It can even be snakes, frogs, birds, as well as various nests.
Nomadic army ant - siafu
One of the largest killer ants is the bulldog, which mainly lives in Australia. These insects dig their own anthills at a shallow depth. As for nutrition, they prefer plant nectar and fruit juices.
Each type of ant has its own characteristics. This also applies to breeding conditions. For example, bulldog ants once a year arrange a year, during which the mating of sexual individuals that have emerged from the larvae takes place. After that, the females scatter around the neighborhood, and the males die.
African siafu killer ants make a halt for breeding and during this period they start laying, which is carried out by the female, while this is happening, the bivouac can still exist for about three weeks. After the female lays offspring, the working class takes the larvae and, licking them, takes them to secluded places. As for the life expectancy of these ants, the female is able to live for 15 years, while the rest are no more than two years.
In the bullet ant, the uterus is also responsible for reproduction, which, like all other species, is carefully cared for, because it bears eggs for further reproduction.
The average lifespan of killer ants is about 2 months.
As for the killer ants themselves, then, of course, it primarily depends on their habitat. Undoubtedly, queens are considered long-livers in any variety. Males are endowed with the shortest duration of residence, which die almost immediately after mating, and as for worker ants, they live on average for about two months.
The most dangerous ant
Of all the insect species listed above, the bullet ant, which lives in tropical forests, is considered the most dangerous. These insects prefer to live mainly in trees.
A feature of this ant is also that he knows how to scream and does this with every approaching danger.
Benefits of killer ants
As practice shows, not all killer ants can only cause harm, some varieties can also have a positive effect.
For example, this applies to reaper ants, which protect fields from pests and feed exclusively on grains that are found on the ground. These insects also never climb the catfish of the plant, which excludes their damage.
Size doesn't always matter. In the world there are a huge number of insects that are much more dangerous than animals. Bites from some insects can be fatal if not properly treated.
We bring to your attention the top 10 most dangerous insects in the world, as well as their photos.
The most dangerous insects in the world
bullet ant
The bullet ant is the largest of all ants in the world. They mainly live in the rainforests of Nicaragua and Paraguay. This species of ants got its name due to their strong bites, which in terms of pain resemble a bullet shot. Scientists have found that a bullet ant sting is 30 times more painful than a wasp sting.
Each colony of these ants has several hundred inhabitants. Usually, they build their nests at the bases of large trees. When a predator is detected, these ants release bad smell. If this trick does not drive away the intruder, they attack him with almost the entire colony.
Mostly gadflies are found in Central and South America. Young females of these insects lay their larvae in the skin of mammals. The larvae take root under the skin and stay there for 60 days, affecting the subcutaneous zone.
Patients who turn to doctors claim that they can feel the movement of the larvae. After the rim larva matures, it leaves the body.
There are about 2000 known species of these insects. Young fleas can consume up to 15 times more blood than their total body weight. A favorite place for flea bites are the waist, elbows of a person. A flea bite causes intense itching and can lead to infection.
fire ant
About 285 are now known to exist. various kinds fire ants. They are very aggressive and, in case of danger, leave painful stings in the body of the victim. A white pimple caused by a stinger entering the human body will give pain for several weeks.
Also, fire ant venom can lead to some skin problems. Usually, fire ants attack their victims in groups consisting of 10 to 100 insects.
Triatomine bug
Every year, about 12,000 people die from the “kisses” of triatomine bugs in the world. Even the weakest bite of these insects instantly makes changes in the human and animal body, which cannot be eliminated without the help of doctors.
Giant Japanese Hornet
The giant Japanese hornet is the most close-up view hornets in the world. They grow to a size of 2 inches. About 40 deaths from the bites of these insects are recorded annually in the world.
The venom of the Japanese hornet causes an allergic reaction and burns the human skin at the site of the bite. With multiple bites of these insects, a person can die in just a few minutes.
Japanese hornets are very aggressive and fearless. Each colony of these insects contains 700 members. They feed on honey bee larvae, and they can kill about 40 large bees in just a minute.
tsetse fly
Tsetse flies are among the most dangerous insects in Africa. They mainly feed on the blood of vertebrates, into whose body they inject a powerful toxin after the strongest bites of victims. For some people and animals, the bites of these insects can even be deadly.
According to unofficial data of scientists, about half a million people are attacked by tsetse flies every year, of which about 20% are fatal.
At first, the poison of these insects induces drowsiness and severe weakness on its victim, and if medical assistance is not provided to the patient in time, he may die.
Africanized bee
These insects are also called "killer bees". They are among the most aggressive and dominant insects in the world. A group of Africanized bees are capable of chasing their prey for over one mile. They usually attack in groups of several hundred individuals.
The toxin of Africanized bees is not as dangerous as it might seem at first glance, but they amaze their victims with their numerical superiority. They mainly attack the face of a person, especially the eyes.
These insects live in large colonies, the number of which reaches 30 thousand individuals. After someone or something has disturbed these bees, it is dangerous to stay near their colony for 24 hours, as they will immediately attack.
wandering ant
The roaming ants have the largest colony of any other insect in the world. Each colony of these ants can contain about 22 million individuals. Even elephants are forced to run away when they are attacked by such a huge number of insects.
They are able to destroy any animal that gets in their way. Usually, roaming ants kill thousands of different animals during a single raid. With their strong jaws, they leave wounds on animals and people.
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are the most dangerous insects in the world. Every year millions of people all over the planet die from their stings. Mosquitoes are carriers of malaria, which is transmitted to humans through microbes carried by these insects around the world.
A person becomes infected with this especially dangerous disease through the bites of mosquitoes. The WHO estimates that one child dies of malaria every 30 seconds worldwide. In just a year, about 500 million patients who are diagnosed with this terrible disease turn to doctors.
In addition to malaria, mosquitoes also carry dengue, yellow fever, encephalitis, and West Nile virus.
In their fight against "harmful" insects, people do much more harm to themselves than those with whom they fight.
Ants are social insects of the suborder of stinging hymenoptera, the closest relatives of wasps and bees, but not all species have a sting and poisonous glands. It is thanks to their remarkable ability to cooperate that ants have become the dominant group of arthropods. In warm countries, on 1 hectare of land, you can count up to 20 million individuals of these ever-hurrying, businesslike creatures.
Over 10,000 ant species are distributed throughout the globe, except for the Far North and Antarctica. The most interesting, diverse and highly organized of them live in the tropics, but in Russia there are also some "ant wise men". For example, red wood ants (Formica rufa) are an inexhaustible source of research and discovery. Surely you have seen their magnificent anthills in our forests, where little red-haired workaholics participate in soil formation and save plants from caterpillars.
Ant Wars
A few paces away from me, among the dense vegetation, a black mass appeared on the ground: ants were advancing. These predators, ants-ecitons, destroy all living things in their path.
Arkady Fidler . Call of the Amazon
If Europe manages to get along more or less peacefully next to the ants, then the United States is less fortunate. As recently as yesterday, you threw a sugar bowl on the floor in horror at the sight of yellow pharaoh ants (Monomorium pharaonis) and urgently called the insect extermination company? What a trifle these your worries are compared to the long-term war between the USA and red fire ants (Solenopsis invicta)!
Dangerous invaders were accidentally brought by sea to the United States from South America in the early 1900s, when an active cattle trade was established. Since the climatic conditions turned out to be favorable, and there were no and could not be natural enemies on alien land, after a few years the fire ants multiplied in incredible numbers. They "captured" more and more territories, moving from Alabama to California. Small fiery creatures mercilessly stung farmers, erected anthills in the path of mowers and undermined the image of an omnipotent capitalist power.
In fact, the Americans suffered much more from the poison of wasps and bees, but now the USDA had a good reason to launch "heavy artillery" against fire ants. Mirex pesticides were sprayed all over the southeast of the United States from numerous helicopters and began to wait for the results ... The first to sound the alarm was the biologist, founder of the global environmental movement, Rachel Carson, who later described all the vicissitudes of this war in her bestseller " Silent spring (Silent spring, 1962). “Who has the right to decide for all of us,” she indignantly, “that the highest value is a world without insects, a barren world not even adorned with the wing of a flying bird?” Rachel was right - after eating Mirex-flavored worms, all migratory thrushes disappeared, and in 1976 it was convincingly proven that these chemicals are dangerous to humans and are a heart toxin. Perhaps Carson herself was a victim of pesticides that provoked cancer - two years after the publication of the book, she died.
By the way, in the USSR there were also attempts to use Mirex, but not on such a large scale.
chemical question
A mortal did not win victories over the sky.
Everyone in a row is devoured by the earth-eater.
Are you still whole? And brag about it?
Wait: you'll get the ants for dinner!
Omar Khayyam. Rubaiyat
By the 1990s, fire ants, unlike thrushes, had recovered and expanded their populations. And now they are interested not only in newborn chicks, but also in wires, air conditioners, traffic lights and other electrical appliances that they disable, causing economic damage to the United States in the amount of $ 6 billion a year. The description of the great "ant confrontation" is included in many abstracts and scientific work on ecology, in particular, in 2004, the "detective" work of Joshua Busa was published ( Joshua Blu Buhs. The Fire Ant Wars), which once again reminds of the possible consequences of the use of pesticides.
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Despite the development of transgenic technologies that will help us protect crops from codling moths and leafworms, the topic of chemicals is still one of the hottest in the world. For example, the BBC recently reported that nearly one-third of British food contains pesticides. Even more noise was made in June 2006 by the discovery of a group of scientists from the Department of Public Health at Harvard University, led by Alberto Ascherio (Alberto Ascherio). Agricultural pesticides have been shown to increase the risk of developing Parkinson's disease by 70%. Based on this discovery, Mrs. Bertrand Couderc, a lawyer for a certain agricultural worker, was able for the first time in France to prove that his illness was an occupational disease and to achieve significant financial compensation for her ward.
Perhaps, with the help of the fashionable theme of the far-fetched danger of genetically modified organisms, they are trying to distract us from a more real threat? For me, the "chemical question" will always be relevant, since I myself have experienced the effects of chemicals. When I was 13 years old, we moved to a town not far from one of the oldest cities in Siberia - Usolye-Sibirskoye. It always seemed to me that Siberia with its wonderful green taiga is the lungs of Russia. How wrong I was! Almost every morning our houses were covered with a thick cloud of chlorine, and in a few months I turned from a cheerful and healthy child into a stunted creature. Then I did not know who was to blame and to whom I should turn my hatred. But surely they could breathe normally and did not know the terrible word "asthma". I was urgently sent to Kyrgyzstan to my grandmother, and I was saved, which cannot be said about some other children who became disabled. They say now ecological situation in Siberia has improved only because many chemical plants are idle due to the economic crisis. But back to our "great and terrible" ants.
As tempting as it was to launch a "chemical attack" on the ants, the USDA has shifted from pesticides to more sophisticated strategic developments. Thus, natural enemies of fire ants, humpback flies from the genus Phoridae, have already been brought from South America, which lay their eggs in the body of a living Solenopsis invicta. The developing larva eventually decapitates the ant with the help of a special enzyme. In South America, one can often observe how humpbacks swarm over ant colonies, and their larvae, hiding behind a mask from the head of an ant, brazenly “walk” along with Hymenoptera.
And the fight goes on again
The ants had no doubt spotted the arsonists and were chasing them. They ran faster than people, and the distance between the one and the other was getting smaller and smaller.
Vladimir Obruchev. plutonium
Nobody wants to survive bad experience United States, but until scientists have invented a biofilter, similar to the one presented in the movie “And thunder” (“A Sound of Thunder”), no one is immune from invasions of South American ants. So, in March 2006, Israel was attacked by the army of the same militant Solenopsis invicta. Creepy photos of Israeli crabs covered in fire ants have been circulating around the world, and "Beware of ants" warnings have appeared on beaches. In Australia, frightened environmentalists are fighting the "crazy" yellow ants Anoplolepis gracilipes, which inject acid into the eyes of local defenseless lizards and chicks and threaten to destroy endemic fauna. They are trying to fight them with the help of a special insecticide "Fipronil" mixed into food balls that are attractive only to ants of this species.
Russia, with its cool climate, is not a very pretty place for tropical "barbarians", but a fire ant, Solenopsis savissima var, has already been found in one of the Moscow hospitals. Richteri. If we take on faith the hypothesis of some pessimistic scientists, in particular, Mike Pilling (Mike Pilling) from the University of Lind West Yorkshire, in 100-200 years the climate in Europe will become incredibly warmer. Probably, it will be pleasant to harvest two or three crops a year, but nothing else will prevent heat-loving ants from conquering new territories.Some tropical ants can bring an unadapted European to a heart attack with their appearance alone, but what will happen if they come to visit you? In the jungles of Southeast Asia, I saw colonies of ants a meter (!) wide that swept through the grass like giant black waves. Tourists fled away, and only naturalists like me looked at this riot of life with great pleasure. And the point here is not courage, but knowledge of the habits of insects - most ants do not at all look for meetings with a person and rush at him only when the "destroyer" approaches the nest. The most dangerous are the South American and African wandering ants, which sweep away everything in their path, and people have to leave villages or build a fire barrier around their houses.
In Search of Solomon's Ring
So ants, colliding somewhere,
rub their stigmas to find out
maybe about booty or about the path.
But only a moment, the embrace of friendship lasts.
Dante Alighieri. The Divine Comedy. Purgatory. XXVI song
Is there a way to protect yourself from Hymenoptera invasions? Probably, the study of the behavior of social insects will help us in this. When crowds of hungry leeches or mosquitoes attack you, you have to flee, but ants are more highly organized creatures, so why not… negotiate with them! As the prominent ethologist and Nobel laureate Konrad Z. Lorenz used to say: “I have every reason to believe that Solomon really could talk with animals, and even without the help of a magic ring, the possession of which is attributed to him by legend.”
The so-called hypothetical language of ants is still too complicated for human understanding, but experiments to decipher it have been going on for a long time. This language, most likely, consists of a complex of smells (pheromones), gestures (limb movements) and antennal contacts. The most popular object for studying the “linguistics” of insects is honey bees, relatives of ants. It was on them that the Austrian zoologist Karl von Frisch, who received in 1973 Nobel Prize, proved the existence of a symbolic language of dances. The final confirmation of the presence of "language" abilities in bees was received in the early 1990s by an engineer from Denmark, Bent Bach Andersen. He conducted a truly amazing experiment, creating an artificial robotic bee that gave commands to real bees where to fly for nectar. And they did it! Such experiments are incredibly difficult for a number of reasons. For example, bees from different localities have different dialects, much like people from different republics.
But this does not prevent us from dreaming how convenient it would be to learn to “speak” to ants: “Danger! Everyone get out of this area immediately!" A less fantastic way to deal with ants is to synthesize the smell of ant enemies and introduce it into the anthill. Insects will no longer distinguish who is theirs and who is a stranger, and they will arrange a "fratricidal" war. Similar experiments are already being conducted at the University of California at Irvine (UC Irvine) on the Argentine ants Linepithema humile, also imported from South America and crowding out local arthropods. A group of scientists led by Neil Tsutsui managed to obtain a substance that "Argentines" perceive as a label of ants of another species.
Unless they know how to embroider with a cross
Is there anything in the world more beautiful than an ant? The lines of his body are clean and curved, the aerodynamics are perfect ... He looks like an Italian racing car.
Bernard Werber. Ants
If we forget about the ant wars, in which man himself is guilty, then the civilization of ants is an interesting object for peaceful study and contemplation. Try one day to watch the "ant wise men", and very soon such a hobby can grow into something more. The simplest and most harmless experiment to identify the ant "intelligence" is as follows: put a low candle on the dome of the "house" of redheads forest ants, and you'll find they're capable of putting out fires with well-aimed formic acid shots.
The mysterious behavior of insects gave rise to and new fashion- in some European pet stores they sell special formicaria (something like strong terrariums) with small colonies of ants inside. In Russia, this hobby is only in its infancy, but there are already special clubs for ant lovers. Here you can discuss what to feed your pets and how to keep them. So, many ants die after eating mayonnaise or sausage, but live happily ever after if they are fed fresh honey. The fact that ants are no less gourmets than people, I was convinced on September 8, 2006 at a book fair in Moscow, talking with science fiction and insect lover Bernard Werber.
- Tell me, how do you know such details of the life of an ant civilization? Did you really watch them or is everything written a fantasy? I asked this kindest Frenchman.
- I moved to the courtyard of my house not big ant Nick and enjoyed watching the insects. What angered me the most was that they didn't want to eat anything but caviar! After completing the research, I took them back to the forest.
Fortunately, people have an interest in ants not only gastronomic. Ants are the best in many ways, and it would be nice to learn something from them. For example, if you carry out simple mathematical calculations, it turns out that ants run faster than people. That is, if they were our size, they would reach a speed of 80 km / h. In addition to unprecedented speeds, these insects also demonstrate the phenomenon of longevity. Usually the anthill is updated every year, but some females live up to 10–20 years. Perhaps the secret of their longevity is in the ant "state system"? The architectural talents of these small insects cannot but arouse admiration.
Many human corporations are affectionately called "anthills", but how can we compete with ants! Any human firm is unstable, because sooner or later some "worker" will definitely start to weave intrigues and try to take the place of the "queen". With ants, such blasphemy is impossible, since there are certain castes from birth, and all workers are underdeveloped females who will never become queens. Among the ants there are also slave owners, for example, Amazon ants (Polyergos rufescens), stealing the pupae of other ant species. If you are lucky and you meet Amazon ants in the southern part of the Moscow region, be sure to watch them. Their robbery trips to neighboring anthills are a breathtaking sight. The most curious thing is that the slaves who do all the work for the Amazons will never find out about their origin and will not charge the enslavers with racism.
In the animated film "The Ant Bully", spiritualized ants demonstrate the wonders of cooperation - they build living "bridges" and "ladders" to cross the gorge, confer, develop a strategy for war. Do you think these are all fairy tales? Some species are really capable of such tricks, for example, wandering ecitonic ants (genus Eciton) are constantly wandering and have to overcome many obstacles. For some reason, thousands of ants constructing pontoon bridges from their own bodies do not surprise me. Now, if we saw such miracles of mutual assistance among people somewhere in the center of Moscow, at rush hour, it would be a sensation. What do you think?
Fire ants are a very common species of these insects. Its varieties live almost all over the world, and spread simply at cosmic speed. These are the most dangerous ants in the world, the bite of which can lead to lethal outcome.
Who are fire ants, what they look like, where they live and why they are dangerous - this article will tell.
What does an insect look like
During its life, the fiery type of ants lives in four stages:
- egg;
- larva;
- chrysalis;
- an adult.
The photo shows a larva of a red fire ant, which, unlike adult, white color, absolutely immobile. Accordingly, she cannot get her own food. The larva is fully supported by the worker ants, until it gains the necessary weight and acquires the size to turn into a chrysalis.
A day before turning into a chrysalis, the larva stops eating and completely empties the intestines. Working individuals find suitable conditions for the pupa, serve it until the birth of a new ant from it.
Adult ants, judging by the photo, do not differ in large sizes. The length of their body is two to six millimeters, and it depends on where the insect lives. It is surprising that individuals, both the smallest and the largest, can be in the same nest. Fire ants, despite being called red ants, can have a color from dark red to brown. In this case, the abdomen in adults is almost black. The goosebump's body consists of a head, chest, abdomen, and it also has six legs, very strong and powerful.
Insect features
Like any living creature on Earth, these insects have their own characteristics:
- insects of this species are omnivores, they can equally successfully consume food of animal and vegetable origin. Their diet is herbaceous plants, large insects, larvae, caterpillars. Also, these insects feed on small mammals - mice, snakes, lizards. The remains of large animals can also get to them for lunch;
- do not differ from their relatives - they also build anthills as soon as the time comes to acquire offspring. Often insects arrange their nests in human dwellings;
- hunting for them is a whole war game. The attack on the victim is fast. Ants climb on it, dig into the skin, after which they introduce their sting. In a calm state, the sting is not visible, as it is hidden in the abdomen. Through the sting, a large amount is injected into the body of the victim strong poison. If the dose is too high, then the victim dies after a while. If it is small, then the victim will remain alive, but the bite site will hurt a lot for quite a long time;
- these insects are excellent at swimming, since floods occur very often where they live. To save themselves from such natural disasters, the ants have developed a special tactic that allows them to save their family from flooding. They build rafts from their own bodies and can thus float for quite a long time. How does this happen? A group of ants is placed on top of the water, strongly clinging to each other with their jaws. The floating structure has high strength, while it is very flexible. The rest of the individuals from the anthill can only move onto the raft from their comrades.
In order to figure out who the fire ants are, one should Special attention give to the mother. The uterus is the queen of the anthill, she is engaged all her life in laying eggs in large numbers. Due to its fecundity, the colony can be replenished with new individuals very quickly. The uterus of these insects is much larger than the rest of the ants. She lives in an anthill, but never goes outside.
There are several queens in the colony, and each of them is able to lay up to thirty eggs per day. Their size is very small - it reaches no more than half a millimeter. A week later, larvae appear from the eggs, and after another two, the larvae turn into pupae.
habitats
These ants appeared in Brazil and then, with the beginning of the development of sea routes, spread throughout the world. Today, their habitat includes Mexico, the United States of America, the Caribbean, China, Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.
Since these insects were brought by sea to other countries, Agriculture and the animal world of these countries suffered greatly. Especially this type of dangerous ants fell in love with the United States, or rather their endless southern territories.
The stings of fire ants are so strong that several billion dollars are annually spent on medical and veterinary services from the country's budget. The government spends about the same amount to exterminate them. For this purpose, the most infested areas were inhabited by humpback flies, which are excellent exterminators of ants, the dead bodies of which the fly larvae use as a safe haven. 
What are dangerous:
- First of all, its aggressiveness, as well as the ability to instantly adapt to new conditions, multiply rapidly and have the most negative impact on the flora and fauna of the region.
- Fire ants are also dangerous to the human body. They are called fiery because their poison causes sensations akin to a thermal burn. If there is a danger of attack, they immediately rush to the attack, and it does not matter who is in front of them - a beast or a man. They instantly climb a potential offender, begin to sting him, literally penetrating with their sting and injecting a portion of poison. According to statistics, the bites of these insects annually lead to the death of more than thirty people.
- They know no fear of anyone. They are able to create their nests anywhere - in the forest or human dwellings, household appliances, garbage cans. Modern chemicals are not able to cope with their hordes, so it is easier for residents of South American countries to move to another place than to try to eradicate these insects. After all the above facts, it becomes clear how dangerous these ants are.
Insect breeding
Before the start of the breeding season, scout ants go in search of a new territory where there is food and the possibility of building a new anthill. Once a place is found, the colony begins to spread, and young females and males take to the flight to mate.
Insects have a unique feature - they reproduce by cloning. For breeding offspring, they do not have to use individuals of the opposite sex. Their services are resorted to only when it is required to produce sterile individuals - future males and females. Thus, the uterus can reproduce new members of the anthill alone, without attracting males. The uterus of red ants is very prolific, it can lay up to two hundred and fifty thousand eggs in a lifetime.
Some ants, in order to get offspring, do not build any anthills, but use warm and humid freshwater dwellings for this, driving out adults from there and eating newborn babies.
Killer ant varieties
Despite the scary stories, killer fire ants and their species are not so widespread on the planet. However, they are. Therefore, in order to figure it out, you need to find out what types of these insects exist:
- nomadic fire reaper ants live mainly on the black continent and South America. This type of insect does not build anthills, but prefers to breed on temporary structures in the form of a ball created from the bodies of worker ants. In appearance, this form may seem chaotic, but in it, as in a classical anthill, everything is subject to strict order. Nomadic reapers got their name because they constantly wander from place to place in search of food. Soldier ants are very large, can reach up to one and a half centimeters in length. However, the uterus of this species is considered the largest - its body length reaches five centimeters. To date, it is considered the largest individual of all existing ants. Army ants do not kill anyone, but they can sting very hard, causing a terrible allergy. As a rule, army ants feed on small freshwater birds and young birds;
- the bullet ant is another fiery representative living in South America. These ants are called so because their bites are so painful that they feel like a moderate chemical burn. Their venom contains a very strong toxin. Pain after a bite may not go away for a whole day. If you conduct research and compare the sensations after a bite on the Schmidt scale, then the level of pain reaches the fourth level, which is higher than all the bites of other insects. Representatives of this species are also very large. Worker ants grow up to two and a half centimeters, and the uterus - up to three centimeters;
- Bulldog ants are among the most venomous species of ants. These killer ants are capable of infecting the human body, causing not only acute allergies, but also leading to death. According to statistics, death from bulldog ant bites occurs much more often than from bites from other predators.
The most unpredictable moment is that the human body can react to the poison of this insect in the most unexpected way. Even resistant to the bites of other insects, a person can die from the bite of a bulldog ant. There is a version that the very strong toxicity of this species is associated with its evolutionary primitiveness.
Thus, fire ants are really a special kind of insects that can not only survive in the most extreme conditions, but also destroy everything around them. If they settle in a human dwelling, then it is very difficult to remove them, even if the nest is found and the uterus is destroyed. And since there are several queens in the fiery colony, their numbers will soon be restored. You can get acquainted and open the veil of the secrets of the life of these insects by watching the video presented.
