The bites of most of the ants that inhabit the planet are not so terrible for humans. The only exceptions are a few, including the bullet ant (Paraponera Clavata), aka the 24 hour ant or the killer ant. These popular names for the insect fully justify themselves because of the strength of the pain after a bite.
Ant appearance
The ant has a large body covered with a hard shell. Body length varies between 18-30 mm, depending on the status of the individual. But a queen ant is not much larger than a normal worker ant.
The body color of all representatives of this species is almost the same - from red-brown to dark brown shades. The uterus from the rest of the family is markedly distinguished by a large abdomen. The entire body, especially the limbs of the ant, is covered with thin needle-like spines. Slightly prominent dark eyes are located on the sides of the head. Eggs are yellowish white, round in shape.
Description
The body length of working ants is 18-25 mm. The body color is reddish, brownish or blackish. The head is large. Its shape resembles a square with rounded corners. The jaws are very well developed. The length of the tip reaches 3.5 mm. Round protruding eyes located in front of the head
The queens are slightly larger in size and differ from the workers in the presence of wings and a larger abdomen. They break off their wings on their own after swarming and fertilization.
The lifespan of a working bullet ant is 2-3 years. Uterus live 15-20 years.
Insect lifestyle
Ants dig deep nests (up to 65 cm) with 1 entrance and 1 exit, which is most often
located at the lower gallery. The ant dwelling resembles a multi-storey building - numerous high and long galleries extend to the side from a high vertical tunnel along its entire length at different levels. In addition, insects during the construction of a house take care of the drainage system. To do this, they build a deep channel extending down from the nest.
Also, ants are thoroughly suited to the choice of a place to place a nest.
The best location for the bullet ant nest is at the base of the Pentaclethra macroloba trees.
This plant secretes nectar, which ants love to feast on. Sometimes ants place their nests high above the ground - in places where trees are forks or in hollows. In this case, the height can reach 14 meters.
Ants of this species settle in not very large colonies, the number of which usually does not even reach a thousand. But sometimes the number of working individuals in a family can reach three thousand.
Habitat
Bullet ant habitat
Residents of Nicaragua, Ecuador, Paraguay can meet such a dangerous ant. It is also found throughout Central and South America, including such territories as Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Brazil. For arranging the nest, the bullet selects fallen trees, stumps. In more rare cases, insects build an anthill deep into the soil.
A humid tropical climate suits this species best for a full life. They need enough moisture to reproduce. If it is not there, then the individuals will try to go deep into the soil as much as possible.
Food
Foraging, that is, the search for food, is usually carried out at night. Insect activity during foraging is manifested mainly in trees and less often on the ground.These ants are perfectly oriented in space, easily finding their way home thanks to the pheromones they release, with which they pave a trail. They can carry food in a dwelling either one by one or by the trofollaxis method, which consists in group organized and sequential transmission.
The bullet ant is a predatory insect that can feed on both live prey and dead insects. They give particular preference to large insects and small vertebrates. Thus, the prey can be many times larger than the hunter himself. In order to transport the found prey to their nest, workers must first divide it into small parts with the help of sharp jaws. And only after that, the food is transferred inside the nest, where it is fed to the larvae. The larvae eat on their own, without pretreating food.
The bullet ant, although it is a predator, in addition to animal food, also loves to feast on sweets. Adults enjoy drinking nectar and other sweet liquid substances of plant origin. Very often, ants can be seen running through the trees also because they collect nutritious sap from them, making small cuts in the bark. Also, adult insects do not forget about their households - they bring large droplets of juice to the nest and feed the larvae with them.
Insecticides for the garden will help you get rid of annoying pests and collect a rich and tasty harvest. Ant hoverflies live in anthills and feed on ant larvae. What this insect looks like, see this article.
Boric acid is great for fighting garden ants. How to use this tool, read the link.
Spread
The species is widespread in the equatorial zone north of Nicaragua and south of Bolivia. Ants inhabit tropical moist primary and secondary forests at altitudes up to 750 m above sea level. The only population living at an altitude of 1500 m is located in the La Amistad National Park in Costa Rica. In Central America, bullet ants are found on the Atlantic coast.
The ant colony is located on the soil at the foot of the trees, usually in a darkened area. The main entrance to the nest is in the trunk or roots of the tree. Additional entrances are located directly in the ground. A large nest may contain many tunnels and about 43 individual chambers ranging from 7 to 62 cm in length. The chambers at the end of the tunnel are used for breeding. Their length does not exceed 10 cm.
Ants build special vaulted ceilings above the chambers, which serve for ventilation and drainage of rainwater.
They are stacked like shingles. The thickness of the "sewer structures" reaches 13-16 mm. On one hectare there can be up to four colonies, in which from 1 to 2.5 thousand insects live together. In one colony there can be one or several queens at the same time.
Does this insect benefit or harm?
In fact, this ant is a very peaceful insect. There is absolutely no aggression in it, including towards a person. He uses his sting mainly to find food. In other cases, the ant can only use it for protection purposes. But, even sensing an approaching threat, the ant will first give the enemy a warning signal in the form of a sharp unpleasant smell and hiss. These signals make it clear that it is better not to touch it, since protection will follow in the future. If after this the enemy does not stop, the ant is forced to attack.
The remedy for these ants is very strong. After all, it is not without reason that it is called the bullet ant. The pain of a bite is almost no different from the pain of a bullet wound.
Popularly, in the countries of Central America, this insect is called the ant-24 hours, since an acute severe pain lasts for a day.
There is a special scale (Schmidt index), according to which the pain intensity is assessed by an insect bite. The bullet ant is at the top of this scale and takes 4th place.
The bite can be fatal only for people with allergies. In other cases, the bite only provokes paralysis of the bitten part of the body, severe pain and
convulsions. This is due to the paralyzing poneratoxin contained in the ant venom. In this state, a person stays for about 24 hours, after which all painful symptoms begin to gradually subside.
Many Indian tribes benefit from the bullet ant. The strength of his bite is invaluable to them: it helps to determine whether the boy is ready for adulthood, whether he is strong and stable enough. Parents deliberately arrange for a close meeting of the bullet ant with their son. To do this, he is allowed to put on a sleeve of leaves, in which ants live. During his illness, the boy passes close to death, which is necessary for his test. After all, the bite force of this ant is dozens of times higher than the bite force of a bee or a wasp. But, as a rule, such a bite cannot threaten life, and after two days the boy feels as usual.
How can you agree to this
It would seem that only Indians can go to this ceremony, knowing that this is a necessary initiation, showing that they are ready to become warriors. But, of course, such experiments are sometimes carried out by Europeans - journalists and naturalists. In 2008, the British journalist Steve Backshell passed the initiation ceremony. Later, his experiment decided to repeat the American extreme Coyote Peterson, the leading YouTube channel (called Brave Wilderness, do not repeat at home). Coyote prepared, in his opinion, very carefully - voluntarily subjected himself to the bites of sixty reaper ants and furry wasps. The preparation, however, turned out to be not so good - after just one bite of a bullet ant, Coyote literally rolled on the ground in pain. His face was swollen, his hand turned red, and the throbbing waves of pain by the thrill-seeker were later described as being like the blows of a red-hot poker. It's good that everything ended fine. One can only guess how painful the experience of Steve Backshell, Coyote Peterson and hundreds of Native American boys was.
Reproduction
Swarming takes place in early spring, and mating itself is directly on the ground. After mating, the males die. The received sperm of the ant's uterus is enough for the next 15-20 years of life.
The first clutch of eggs takes place from March to April.
They are deposited in a separate chamber. The larvae appear within a few days. Food for them is obtained by working foraging ants and passed along a chain from mouth to mouth.
Depending on the amount of hormones produced by the glands located in the lower jaw and ingested, the larvae are assigned to a particular caste. Working ants remain in the nest, while those capable of reproduction fly out of it.
Treating fire ant bites
Epinephrine rapidly reverses the adverse effects of shortness of breath and hypotension.
It is suggested to use a conservative approach in the treatment of bite injuries. Treatment is based on symptoms. For minor injuries with symptoms including pustule formation and pain, over-the-counter products are available to prevent infection. Ants are removed by washing the area with antiseptic soap.
Victims with signs of anaphylaxis are treated with antihistamines, epinephrine, parenteral corticosteroids. It is recommended that people who suffer from anaphylaxis use an epinephrine autoinjector (EpiPen) if shortness of breath or hypotension occurs.
Immunotherapy (WBE) has been used since 1973 to treat anaphylaxis. Anyone suspected of having an allergy is referred to an allergist for evaluation. The whole body of the ant is used for treatment, not just the poison.
Unlike ant poison immunotherapy (which is sometimes used), WBE contains proteins. To reduce sensitivity, dose extracts are gradually introduced into the body. WBE is very effective in preventing systemic reactions. Not recommended for children with large local reactions, those who live in areas with severe infection are made an exception.
The recommended maintenance dose is 0.5 ml 1: 100 w / v 1:10 w / v WBE. For poison immunotherapy, a common maintenance dose is 0.5 ml of a 1: 200 dilution (w / v).
During the build-up phase, it is recommended to give the dose weekly or biweekly. Patients undergoing immunotherapy are required to receive treatment for three to five years and lifelong therapy, although there is no consensus as to how long a person should be treated.
Taxonomy
Was originally described as Formica clavata
by the Danish zoologist Johannes Fabrice in 1775 [5]. French zoologist Pierre Latreille transferred the species to the genus in 1804
Ponera
[6]. Then, in 1858, the British entomologist Frederick Smith singled out this species as an independent genus.
Paraponera
[7]. Currently, one modern and one fossil is known (
Paraponera dieteri
Baroni Urbani, 1994; Miocene, Dominican amber) species; they are assigned to a separate monotypic subfamily Paraponerinae Emery, 1901. Previously, they were included in the subfamily Ponerinae as the tribe Paraponerini or Ectatommini [8].
Bee
Bees ... well, how can we do without them in this "rating"? To get a portion of bee venom under your skin, you do not have to be an avid beekeeper, you just have to go to a flowering garden, where these "workers" collect nectar. If you inadvertently decide to interrupt the work of this flyer or drive her out of the "place of work", you may earn a painful "slap" from her. When a bee bites, a strong burning sensation immediately occurs on the skin and then it becomes oh, how painful! For example, an Italian bee sting is rated at 2 points on a pain scale.
And again - ants. This time, the American red reaper ant is playing the role of the "aggressor". This insect is from the squadron of malignant ones. Therefore, as you already understood, there is no need to expect leniency from him - he will gladly use his sting to show “who is in charge here”! An ant stings much more painfully than a bee and a hornet. If you count in points on the Schmidt scale, you get about 3!
Another three-point stinging animal is paper wasps. You will immediately understand that you have been bitten by a paper wasp, because the skin will begin to burn as if acid was poured on it! So that an elbow strike on the corner of the table and on the nerve is a pleasant tickle!
Parasites and symbionts
Among the parasites of this species of ants, forid flies were noted Apocephalus paraponerae
Borgmeier [29] [30]. This species of parasitic flies is attracted by special substances (4-methyl-3-heptanone, 4-methyl-3-heptanol) secreted by the mandibular glands of ants [31].
In the colonies Paraponera clavata
bacteria associated with them were found
Bartonella
(Rhizobiales), which play a role in the regulation of digestion in ants. The prevalence of bacteria within field colonies increases after prolonged 2-week carbohydrate feeding (while the addition of protein prey does not increase the concentration of these bacteria) [32].
- Head
- Side view
- View from above
- Ants with larvae
Wasp Pepsis (Pepsis)
But the wasp Pepsis is completely capable of having a paralytic effect at the site of the bite. The pain is sharp, sharp. This is unlikely to be confused with something. Compared to her, the mosquito does not bite, but simply tickles the skin gently! We give this wasp 4 points - it deserves them by right!
The bullet ant is large enough, and its bite is similar in pain to a bullet wound. The arthropod stings much more painfully than any other insect. And although the bite is not fatal for the human body, it brings terrible torment throughout the day.
Bullet Ant Paraponera clavata
It is found in tropical forests from Nicaragua to Paraguay.It is 2.5 centimeters long, lives in trees and, accordingly, is able to fall from there directly onto you in order to drive away from your anthill - from the one about which you did not even know, because it is in the tree. Before doing this, the ant shrieks at you. This ant can scream.
It's called a bullet ant because its unusually strong bite feels like a bullet wound. In the "Insect Bite Pain Registry" compiled in 1990 by a certain Justin Schmidt, the bite of this ant takes the honorable first place and is characterized by the following description: “Pure, deep, magnificent pain. It's like walking on hot coals with a three-inch rusty nail in your heel. "
Some aborigines use these ants as part of a certain coming-of-age ritual. The ritual goes like this: the birthday man receives a cape sewn from leaves with hundreds of ants woven into the sleeves with stings inward. He sticks his hands in there and immediately receives a dose of terrible bites.
The goal is to hold out for 10 minutes, after which the hands turn into numb, useless pieces of twisted agony, and the body is shaken by uncontrollable spasms for several days. And in order to fully pass the test and become a man, they must do it 20 times.
