Fire ants: description, habits and habitat
Three species of fire ants inhabit the southwest of the desert: the Xyloni solenosis, the fire ant solenosis and amblyila solenosis solenosis. The common name refers to the notoriously unpleasant bite of ants. ‘Solenosis’ comes from the Greek solen (channel or pipe) and PAHO (appearance, face). ‘Aurea’ refers to the golden color of that particular species. In Spanish, fire ants are known as a red ant (red ant) or brava ant (sullen ant). In Portuguese, they are called Fogo Formiga (Fire Ant), Lava-Pé (Wash Worm) and Toicinheira form (butter ant). Amblychila means romo lip, (ambl (o, y) Greek for boring, forceful and chilo = lip) in reference to toothless clipping (an oral part), and xyloni means wood. This confuses scientists because the form is not good in Greek and the meaning does not conform to habitat.
Description of ants
The three species are similar in shape, color and size. The brave ants workers come in two sizes. Minor workers can measure only 1/10 inch long. Main workers can measure up to 1/3 inch. Queens are a bit larger than larger workers. The s. Xyloni generally has a yellowish red head and a thorax with a black abdomen, known as gaster. They can also be completely orange or brownish black. California desert species are the most red. Of the three species, S. Xyloni looks more like the notorious imported red ant, s. undefeated, an invasive species that has infested the entire southeast. S. Aurea is more yellowish than the other two species.
S. Xyloni has the widest distribution of the three species, and is located in the southern United States from Las Carolinas to Georgia, through the lowlands of Tennessee and the center-south of Kansas to California. S. Amblychila has been found in Ramsey Canyon, Arizona, in western Texas and in the Mountains Dona Ana del Sur de New Mexico to elevations from 5000 to 8250 feet. S. Aurea occurs from Texas to California in elevations below 6600 feet.
Predator and prey
Fire ants are scavenger predators who prefer oily or fat meats and seeds. The menu includes insects, vertebrate carrion and fruits. Ants also reap seeds and get nectar from a variety of plants, including many cactus species. One of the first naturalists wrote that ‘not even clothes are immune to these rogues ants [and] these villain insects [will consume] nuts, almonds, tomatoes, watermelons and other fruits and vegetables’ ’vegetables’.
Red ants are an aggressive species and, when a good food source is located, workers move to other ants species. In general, they achieve this through a process known as "gastr meneo" or "flagellation", where a worker will produce a drop of spray poison at his rear and scatter the poison towards or over the enemy.
Habits and habitat
Large red ants colonies nest on the ground, often near wet areas, such as river banks, pond edges, watered cradles and road edges. A single nest, generally less than 1 square yard, can have several small openings on the surface or fissures;No opening is central. Ants change the entrance during the season and can transport immature ants between the openings. The excavated soil is often a mound of irregular and variable loose soil, but it can also form a crater.
Near the houses, they can nest on the edge of the sidewalks, in the cracks of the cement or next to the steps. Inside the houses, the nests are built on the walls, in the vicinity of the kitchens. Ants are looking for food at night, and most smaller workers look for food. The biggest workers spend a short time away from the nest, but they quickly go to the surface when they are bother.
Nuptial flights, when males and queens look for a couple and new nests, occur in the afternoon after a rain storm, from May to September. The colonies are founded by small groups of Individual Queens or Queens. Only one queen survives, and in about a year, the colony expands in thousands of individuals. Bravas ants are well known for their propensity to “boil from the ground’ ”when their nest is disturbed. They will bite and bite the intruder, causing memorably unpleasant pain. The poison has more than 95 percent of piperdine alkaloids and is both insecticide and antibiotic.
When the red ant invaded the southeast of the United States at the end of the 1920s, the plague has been generalized in 11 southeast states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Carolina del delSouth, Tennessee and Texas. In these regions, the plague has caused billions of dollars in damages to agriculture and has had an important impact on public safety and the environment.
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