I'm having an ant problem, so I decided to lock up on all my foodstuff, really made the place squeaky clean and neat. Thought that once I starved them, all would be well.
I was wrong.
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Scientific Classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Infraorder: Aculeata
Superfamily: Formicoidea
Family: Formicidae
Ants, along with the allied wasps and bees, are eusocial insects of the Formicidae family and are members of the order Hymenoptera. In the Cretaceous era, ants diverged from vespoid wasp forebears. Over 13,800 species out of an estimated 22,000 species have been categorized. Their unusual node-like structure that generates their slim waists and geniculate (elbowed) antennae make them easy to recognize.
Like I said earlier over 13,800 species out of 22,000 have been classified, just to show you how many different types of ants we have.
With that huge amount of numbers, ants are natively found almost everywhere on earth.
Notice how I said natively, that's to say that their ants that aren't native to some countries take Greenland for example.
There was once a rumor that there were ants in Antarctica, although it was found to be mistaken as another insect, the Antarctic Midge
With ant's being in all the countries, I think it's well known that they aren't picky eaters. From the spicy food of Thailand to the bland food of Denmark, this little insect would eat it all.
Now most people after noticing the ants ravenous appetite, decided to stop leaving food outside. No crumbs to collect and carry, some of the ants decided to expand their menu and learn new skills.
First off we have the farmers, also known as the;
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This ant is found in the tropical Americas.
They decided that they don't need our food and went totally green๐.
Forming a symbiotic relationship with the Lepiotaceae fungus, these ants legit go around the forest harvesting leaves to feed to the fungus. The fungus then processes and detoxify these leaves, taking it in as nutrients. The ants then take part of the fungus, in which they eat and feed their young. The ants also protects their fungus and tends to be very aggressive when doing so. The farmer isn't joking with it's crops.
Another ant who decided to go self sufficient is the aphid rearers;
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These ant's are the bodyguards of aphids basically. The ants protects the aphids while it's feeding, at the same time the ants milk the aphid for honeydew๐.
Please note that although it seems like a perfect harmony relationship the ants are the boss. For if the aphid attempts to develop wings and fly away, the ants are known to sometimes, tear of said wings to ground the aphids.
There are other ants with very interesting habits like the lemon ant who is a famous gardener in charge of the Devil's garden. Some ants lay traps, and some just go on hunts and capture their prey in stick materials.
Normally ants are omnivorous and they eat about anything, from insects to plants, they do dabble on the line of cannibalism.
So my question is this, do omnivorous insects, eat paint?
For the last couple of days, I've noticed that the ants in my house have decided to give my walls a bit of a finishing design.
I'll have to say that I commend their aesthetics๐. Though one thing I've noticed is if I let them go rampant, well there won't be much paint left to be presented as aesthetics ๐.
So I went and did some research
And I found out that this piece of art was done by none other than Carpenter Ants. Well that one discovery changed everything, for it then meant that the ants weren't eating the paint. They were burrowing on it, clearing a site for a new nest.
Well that just couldn't work out for I'm a very wicked landlord and one thing I couldn't allow was a group of tiny civil engineers come and start a project on my land.
So I got my lawyer my mom and we presented them with some leave warrants and proper documents. The argument got heated and my lawyer lost control.
The carpenter ants didn't like her tone very much and the next day we met an even bigger project done.
So now we're in a land dispute with Carpenter Ants.
Although we've figured out that ants don't eat paint, let's find out what they do eat.
- Ants first and foremost love sugar and or sugary substances
- They can eat insects and their eggs, E.g spiders, moths and even other ants.
- They can eat almost any food we humans eats.
- They eat grasses and plants.
- They eat corpses and or decaying flesh
As we can see, the ant is the true definition of an omnivore. With such a wide menu, I'm sure food is never scarce.
Although we should note that there are some things which ants don't eat.
- Lavender - this is actually used as a deterrent for ant's.
- Bananas - apparently, ants can't handle potassium, so eating a banana would kill them. Although this is just what I've read from a blog. ๐๐I would test this out though
The ants foraging skills should be commended though, and they are one of nature's best friend as they are great decomposers but they should get of my land โโ โฟโ โ
If you've made it this far reading, I would like to say thank you. Would love to hear your comments ๐ค.
