Ants

Ants, Formicidae, family of the order Hymenoptera, class Insecta, phylum Arthropoda. Wings, when present, are temporary (during the mating period) and then fall off. The head has prominent upper jaws; the abdomen sits on a petiole connecting with the thorax. Ants are social insects with highly developed care for offspring. Typical members of an ant colony: females, males, and workers. In some species, polymorphism of various forms is observed (for example, winged and wingless males, dwarf and normal females, etc.). There are also special members of the colony: soldiers with huge heads and powerful jaws, honey ants, etc. Ants live in special nests, which they arrange in the ground ('ant hills'), under tree bark, under stones, on trees, etc.; they also inhabit houses. The mouthparts of ants are for chewing; being predatory insects, they can also feed on plant food; they consume not only solid but also liquid food. Ant subfamilies Ponerinae, Myrmicinae, Dolichoderinae, like many Hymenoptera, have a pair of poison glands opening into the sting; the latter protrudes from the end of the abdomen. Other ants (subfamily Camponotinae) lack a sting but have poison glands; such ants bite the body with their jaws, bend the abdomen and inject the gland secretion into the wound. In ant venom of some species, up to 70% of formic acid is present, but it is very probable that the active principle of ant venom does not depend on it. Ants undergo complete metamorphosis. Their larvae are short, worm-like. The pupa often lies in a cocoon. Cocooned ant pupae have been incorrectly called in common speech 'ant eggs' (used as food for birds). Ants can sometimes play a useful role, gnawing animal carcasses to the bones or completely destroying animals and thus cleaning the soil. The formic acid they produce is a medicinal substance (at present it is obtained synthetically); some ants are used as food (paste from ants, extraction of honey from 'honey' ants, etc.). Some large ants are used by wild tribes of Brazil for 'sewing' wounds. Flaps of skin are brought together and an ant is made to grasp them with both jaws, after which the abdomen is immediately torn off from the ant; spasmodically clenched jaws act like applied clips. Harm from Ants. The toxicity of the sting or bite of some ant species is considerable; for example, the sting of the mountain species Myrmica rubra equals that of a wasp. Cases of fatal outcome following the attack of some tropical ants on humans or animals are reported. Ants can play the role of carriers and spreaders of certain, particularly pathogenic, bacteria. House ants, visiting houses, hospitals, bacteriological institutes, crawling into toilets, etc., can come into contact with infected material and become contaminated with various bacteria or swallow them with food. It has been established that ants can spread the bacilli of typhoid fever, the causative agents of dysentery, plague and possibly anthrax. Ants can obtain plague microbes when consuming plague rat carcasses. The greatest significance is attached to specialized house ant species Monomorium pharaonis, the house ant, introduced by man from the tropics and spread in many cities of the temperate zone, where this species cannot live in the open air and therefore nests in human dwellings or in heated buildings (bakeries, restaurants, hotels, zoos, laboratories, etc.). Ants nest deep in the foundation, sometimes appearing in such masses that they can make a house uninhabitable. The ant currently spreading is the Argentine Iridomyrmex humilis, which has already appeared in Western Europe. Fighting Ants. Mechanical protection against ants is achieved by placing the legs of beds or tables in vessels with water and kerosene. The liquid must be changed, as settling dust forms a film on which ants can easily crawl. Products in pantries are hung. Destruction of ant nests is achieved by pouring boiling water mixed with kerosene, alkali, carbon disulfide, etc. The latter can be successfully applied per se, but only in open places. In the evening, a dish with carbon disulfide is placed on the nest, the side passages are closed, and everything is covered with a cap, pressing its edges into the ground. Chlorine and acetylene are also used. Destruction of ants is combined with laying out baits in the form of tubular bones, cotton wool or sponge soaked with sugar water, honey, etc. When many ants have gathered in them, they are destroyed. Poisoning of ants is achieved by using various substances: 3 g of sulfur color and 2 g of dry crushed lavender; Persian powder; a mixture of borax and sugar or potash with honey (these substances are spread or sprinkled along the ants' path); 3 g of chloral hydrate and 120 g of syrup; 0.525 g of tartar emetic and 120 g of syrup; 1 l of water, 1.5 g of tartaric acid, 2 g of sodium benzoate, 850 g of sugar, 150 g of honey and 40 g of sodium arsenite. These solutions are used to saturate pieces of sponge, which are then placed in plates, covered with lids with holes.