Types of ants in Russia and the world
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- Forest red ants
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- Nomads - Ants
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- Ants Bulldogs
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- Meadow Ants
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- Ant bullet
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- Black garden ants
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- House ants
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- Woodwind Ants
Ants are perhaps the most common insects on the planet, inhabiting various natural landscapes and having the ability to adapt to any habitat conditions. They belong to the family of formicides order Hymenoptera. It is definitely difficult to answer exactly the question how many species of ants are in the world.In total, there are more than ten thousand species of these insects in nature, three hundred of which are inhabitants of the open spaces of the Russian Federation. The most interesting are the following types of ants.
Forest red
These are the most common ants in Russia. Representatives of this type have the unique ability to build huge houses, the height of which can reach up to 2 meters. In such an anthill can live up to a million insects.
Habitat red forest ants are forests of coniferous, deciduous and mixed type, whose age exceeds the 40-year milestone. The body of females and working individuals is from 7 to 14 mm long and usually has a red-brown color. Males can be distinguished by their black body color and reddish-yellow paws. Photos of red forest ants are presented below.
The sexual activity of forest dwellers begins in May. Depending on the needs of the family, from laying eggs, either working individuals or only males or females appear.
On a note!
Red forest ants are defenders of the forest: they destroy various insects that cause damage to greenery, especially during the period of mass reproduction of pests.So for a day, the inhabitants of one big anthill can collect more than 20,000 pest pupae.
Nomadic
This type of ant is called nomad because of the way of life of its representatives. Insects do not have their nests; they constantly travel, stopping only for a while to replenish their populations. Then from their own bodies, they construct temporary housing, resembling a large lump. In its midst, the uterus lays its eggs. With the advent of young offspring, the ant family “takes off the anchor” and goes in search of another feeding territory.
Interesting!
Huge fertility is the main feature queens of the womb nomadic ants. Every day, about 130,000 individuals are born from the eggs laid by her.
Nomads are individuals of relatively large size (their body length reaches up to 15 mm), which is why they are often in the ranking. the biggest ants in the world. The frightening form of the insect's jaw, the size of which exceeds even the size of the head, is striking the eye. The female is larger than the male; during the laying of eggs, the size of her body can reach up to 5 cm. Photos of nomads can be seen below.
Insects are found in Africa, Central and South Asia, as well as in North and South America. Killer ants They are called because all the living creatures that come across on the path, the nomads destroy. It can be not only small insects, representatives of this species are able to feed even on small rodents and reptiles.
Bulldogs
Ants of this breed were called bulldogs because of their large jaws, thanks to which insects get food. Also, with its help, they are repelled from the ground and can jump a distance of up to 0.3 m. Adult ants swim well. The larvae feed on their own by the working individuals.
Representatives of this species prefer a tropical climate, so they can be found only on the Australian continent. In appearance, they very much resemble wasps: they have a large body, whose dimensions reach up to 30 mm. How the ant bulldog looks like can be seen in the photo.
Interesting!
Ant bulldog represents a serious danger to humans. The consequence of a bite can be an allergic reaction, and even anaphylactic shock.
Meadow
Ants are medium in size (5-10 mm), which belong to the genus Formica. On the body covered with coarse hairs, in the area of the prothorax, there is a spot with distinct dark edges.
Adults of this species of ants are very similar to the red forest ants mentioned above. The habitat of their habitats is Western Europe, Central Asia, the Baltic States. On the territory of our country, meadow ants are found in Siberia. Meadows, forest edges and forest glades are their favorite habitats.
Meals for meadow ants are the excrements of aphids and the bodies of dead invertebrates, however, in a state of hunger, they can also attack live insects. But this is quite a rare phenomenon, therefore meadow ants cannot influence the mass distribution of pests.
On a note!
A feature of meadow ants is their ability to breeding twice per season. Usually, the activity of individuals toward mating manifests itself in late May and early September.
Bullet
These species of ants do not occur in Russia, their habitats are the tropical forests of Nicaragua and Paraguay. Representatives of this species build their nests in the trunks of trees, trying to disguise them with branches and leaves.
Ants bullets - very dangerous insects.Their bite is accompanied by severe pain that does not subside throughout the day. The injured places are charred, turning black. The consequence of such ant attacks is the occurrence of tumors, paralysis, the manifestation of chills and weakness.
Garden
Such ants are found on the territory of our country, as well as in Portugal and the UK. They prefer to build their nests in rotten stumps and under lying objects. The smallest are individual workers (about 5 mm), slightly larger than males (up to 6 mm), the largest are individuals of the female (not less than 8-10 mm). These ants are black or dark brown in color, the body of insects covered with small hairs.
Interesting!
A unique feature of garden queens uterus is lifespanwhich can reach three decades.
A favorite treat of garden ants is the pad (aphid discharge). That is why they protect and promote the spread of aphids - a malicious pest of gardens and gardens.
Brownies or Pharaohs
This is one of the species of ants that inhabit human habitation. Therefore, quite often Pharaoh's ants called homemade. Individuals of this species are the smallest (the length of their body does not exceed 4 mm).
Mature individuals, usually red or brown-yellow in color, have a dark abdomen and a transparent cuticle. Only males are capable of flying; flying ants can be observed in the mating season. In females, wings are present only during the mating period. After fertilization, the female individuals chew on them as unnecessary. Workers are born without wings at all.
Living in human habitation, ants of this species do not hibernate: they multiply throughout the year, not taking off for mating. Hatching eggs from larvae become sexually mature after 35-38 days. As a result, the ant family can replenish more than one thousand individuals in a fairly short time.
On a note!
Typically, a colony of domestic ants has several anthills, located nearby from each other. In each of them "hosts" several queens queens. With the deterioration of living conditions in one nest, its inhabitants crawl to another. Exactly because of this reason pest control difficult.
Wood borers
Quite often, borer ants can be seen in the trees, where they collect honeydew. Insects received such a name because they prefer to build their nest in tree bark. By gnawing in it passages and chambers, woodcutters cause enormous harm to forestry.
Drifter is the owner of black with a slight gloss of the body. Some representatives of this species differ in a light breast and a dark-brown color by the head. Insect length can reach up to 10 mm. Food for carpenters are various small invertebrates and aphid excreta.
Habitats of wood borers are steppes and forest-steppe. Often they can be found in the oak. Working individuals of this species build anthills in the rotten stumps and timber of fallen trees, they can sometimes be occupied in old wooden buildings. On the ground insects descend only when they need to move to the next growing plant.
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