To Contact Us:
Surface Mail:
Tim and Vicki Reiner ٠ C.P. 111 ٠ 56.300-000 ٠ Petrolina, PE ٠ BRAZIL
Email: timandvicki@inafarplace.com Website: http://www.inafarplace.com
Surface Mail:
Tim and Vicki Reiner ٠ C.P. 111 ٠ 56.300-000 ٠ Petrolina, PE ٠ BRAZIL
Email: timandvicki@inafarplace.com Website: http://www.inafarplace.com
| Tim & Vicki Reiner In A Far Place |
| Creature Feature |
YIKES! ANTS!!
| Baptist Mid-Missions do Brasil |
These ants here are driving me cur-ray-zeee!!! We have
them everywhere I look. I can´t get away from them.
Yesterday, I watched a silly ant walking aimlessly across the
top of the back of a chair. Later, I saw it racing across the
floor and on out the door. Although alone, it was surely on its
way to tell all its friends that the chair was not a good place
to find food, but... In fact, one of these days, they will
probably carry us off, or worse yet, our house is going to
sink into the earth because of all the tunnels they´ve made
underneath us!
This reads a lot like an old-time horror movie. The ants of
Brazil are actually not any more numerous than anywhere
else in the world, except maybe the poles where it´s just too
frigid for them to survive. Ants are an active participant in the
ecology balance game, just making a living at searching out
the best food sources, keeping their colonies going, and the
Queen ant fat and sassy.
them everywhere I look. I can´t get away from them.
Yesterday, I watched a silly ant walking aimlessly across the
top of the back of a chair. Later, I saw it racing across the
floor and on out the door. Although alone, it was surely on its
way to tell all its friends that the chair was not a good place
to find food, but... In fact, one of these days, they will
probably carry us off, or worse yet, our house is going to
sink into the earth because of all the tunnels they´ve made
underneath us!
This reads a lot like an old-time horror movie. The ants of
Brazil are actually not any more numerous than anywhere
else in the world, except maybe the poles where it´s just too
frigid for them to survive. Ants are an active participant in the
ecology balance game, just making a living at searching out
the best food sources, keeping their colonies going, and the
Queen ant fat and sassy.
We can´t leave any food items out because the ants call
all their fellows for curbside carry-out! And if they find the
food plenteous within the house, they move in. They´ve
been found setting up housekeeping in our folded
clothes, behind sockets, in the wall tiles, in books, behind
and in framed pictures, inside video and cassette tapes,
inside a waffle iron, in the sugar, even had an apparent
caffeine-freak ant who kept showing up in the coffee jar!
Hafto carefully seal all lids, burp the tuppies, and make
sure the refrigerator and freezer seal shut. Once we had
a pesky ant that bored a hole in the door we used as my
desk. He kept poking his head out to bite anyone who had
the gall to rest their arm on the desk!
all their fellows for curbside carry-out! And if they find the
food plenteous within the house, they move in. They´ve
been found setting up housekeeping in our folded
clothes, behind sockets, in the wall tiles, in books, behind
and in framed pictures, inside video and cassette tapes,
inside a waffle iron, in the sugar, even had an apparent
caffeine-freak ant who kept showing up in the coffee jar!
Hafto carefully seal all lids, burp the tuppies, and make
sure the refrigerator and freezer seal shut. Once we had
a pesky ant that bored a hole in the door we used as my
desk. He kept poking his head out to bite anyone who had
the gall to rest their arm on the desk!
All ants belong to the Hymenoptera order,
Formicidae Family. More than 12,500 species of
ants live on planet Earth. “Scientists believe that
there are so many ants that their total weight could
be 15 to 25% of the total animal biomass on earth.”
(www.ant-maps.com/ants/about-ants.htm) 2,000
species live in Brazil. Okay, so now do you
understand why I´m concerned about our house?!
I have tried several times over the years we´ve lived
in Brazil to plant vegetables in our yard. Each time,
the leaf-cutting ants march in (two-by-two, or ten-by-
ten - I really have no idea because they come when
we are asleep) and they harvest all of plants before
they get a few inches tall! Sure, nationals do
succeed in cultivating gardens, but I decided I would
rather purchase my produce from them rather than
fight these persistent pests!
Formicidae Family. More than 12,500 species of
ants live on planet Earth. “Scientists believe that
there are so many ants that their total weight could
be 15 to 25% of the total animal biomass on earth.”
(www.ant-maps.com/ants/about-ants.htm) 2,000
species live in Brazil. Okay, so now do you
understand why I´m concerned about our house?!
I have tried several times over the years we´ve lived
in Brazil to plant vegetables in our yard. Each time,
the leaf-cutting ants march in (two-by-two, or ten-by-
ten - I really have no idea because they come when
we are asleep) and they harvest all of plants before
they get a few inches tall! Sure, nationals do
succeed in cultivating gardens, but I decided I would
rather purchase my produce from them rather than
fight these persistent pests!
And, did I mention the ants that kept checking the beds for crumbs?!
Well, we weren´t eating in bed, nope! They musta been hopeful though.
The little boogers pinched like the dickens! We had to search ´em out
and get rid of their colony (which was not in the bed),so we could get a
decent sleep!
Ants here come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from teeny tiny to
gigantic! Well, gigantic to an ant, I s´pose. We have many varieties of
them – fire ants (Solenopsis xyloni), carpenter ants, and leaf-cutting army
ants included. The largest ant known in Brazil is the Dinoponera grandis
or Giant Hunting Ant. Native to the Amazon region, this ant grows to 2.5
cm or nearly one inch long. Unlike most ant species these do not have a
Queen ant, but fight for dominance. After the dominant ant dies (life span
is 12-14 months), another fight resumes, but not to the death. Their sting
is only deadly to small creatures, not humans unless someone is allergic
to their venom.
Well, we weren´t eating in bed, nope! They musta been hopeful though.
The little boogers pinched like the dickens! We had to search ´em out
and get rid of their colony (which was not in the bed),so we could get a
decent sleep!
Ants here come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from teeny tiny to
gigantic! Well, gigantic to an ant, I s´pose. We have many varieties of
them – fire ants (Solenopsis xyloni), carpenter ants, and leaf-cutting army
ants included. The largest ant known in Brazil is the Dinoponera grandis
or Giant Hunting Ant. Native to the Amazon region, this ant grows to 2.5
cm or nearly one inch long. Unlike most ant species these do not have a
Queen ant, but fight for dominance. After the dominant ant dies (life span
is 12-14 months), another fight resumes, but not to the death. Their sting
is only deadly to small creatures, not humans unless someone is allergic
to their venom.
Solenopsis xyloni - Fire Ants
Leaf-cutting army ants
More Information:
Fig. 1. Estimation of damage to agriculture caused by
leaf-cutting ants in Brazil. Regions are divided by
broken lines and abbreviations for the regions are the
same as in Table 1.
http://www.pestworldforkids.org/ants.html
A list of all the ant species found in Brazil –
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?
act=x_checklist&guide=Ants_Brazil
Fig. 1. Estimation of damage to agriculture caused by
leaf-cutting ants in Brazil. Regions are divided by
broken lines and abbreviations for the regions are the
same as in Table 1.
http://www.pestworldforkids.org/ants.html
A list of all the ant species found in Brazil –
http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?
act=x_checklist&guide=Ants_Brazil
Dinoponera grandis - Giant Hunting Ant
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