What do house ants look like and what are the reasons for their appearance in an apartment?

With the onset of warm weather, uninvited guests - ants - appear in many apartments (especially on the first floors).

Information about ants in the apartment is divided into the following chapters:

1. Types of house ants
2. Turf ant
3. House thief ant
4. Pharaoh ants
5. Why are ants dangerous?
6. Reasons for the appearance of ants in the apartment
7. Where do ants live indoors?
8. Behavior of ants in the apartment
9. What do ants eat in an apartment?
10. Why are ants difficult to get rid of?

Uncovered food is very attractive to these insects.

Turf ant

The body of these pests is black or dark red. They get inside the apartment through cracks in the concrete. The pests get their nickname because they usually build their nests between pavement tiles under the turf. They also make nests in cracks in panel houses. Therefore, it is easy for them to enter the premises for food. The turf ant is the most harmless, as it is rarely seen in the apartment.

House thief ant

This type of pest is engaged in creating an anthill near the nests of larger relatives. They got their name because of their way of life. Sometimes they raid neighboring nests to steal food and larvae. Small insects have a brown, red or light yellow shell. Pests settle in the voids of cabinets and walls, preferring rotting wood.

Dolichoderinae

In the world - 28 genera, 707 species, Palearctic - 8/53, Russia - 4/16.

• Bothriomyrmex anastasiae (Dubovikoff, 2002)
• Bothriomyrmex communista Santschi, 1919
• Bothriomyrmex corsicus Santschi, 1923
• Bothriomyrmex modestus (Radchenko, 1985)
• Bothriomyrmex turcomenicus Emery, 1925
• Dolichoderus quadripunctatus (Linnaeus, 1771) = Four-spotted ant (South of European Russia and further east to the Volga: Ulyanovsk region, Chuvashia.)
• Dolichoderus sibiricus (Emery, 1889) = (Far East: Primorsky Territory, Amur Region, Khabarovsk Territory, Sakhalin, Kuril Islands), Southern Siberia, Altai Republic, Kemerovo Region. Sometimes considered a subspecies of Dolichoderus quadripunctatus
  . — Included in the Red Book of the Kemerovo Region as a rare species (3rd category, rare species) and in the Red Book of the Altai Republic (2nd category).
• Liometopum microcephalum (Panzer, 1798) = Relict liometopum (South of the European part of Russia: Lower Volga region, Kalmykia) is a rare species - in the Red Book of the USSR.
• Liometopum orientale (Karavaiev, 1927) = Eastern Liometopum (Russian Far East: south of Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krai, including Lazovsky Reserve.) species declining in numbers - in the Red Book of Russia.
• Tapinoma christophi Emery, 1925
• Tapinoma emeryanum Kuznetsov-Ugamsky, 1927
• Tapinoma erraticum (Latreille, 1798) ( T. breve
  Emery, 1925;
  T. tauridis
  Emery, 1925) = Wandering ant.
• Tapinoma kinbumi Karawajew, 1937
• Tapinoma melanocephalum (Fabricius, 1793)
• Tapinoma sinense Emery, 1925
• Tapinoma subboreale Seifert, 2012 ( T. ambiguum
  Emery, 1925, auct.)

Pharaoh ants

This type of ant can most often be found near humans. They set up anthills in warm and heated apartments. Pharaoh ants can settle not only in apartments, but also in schools, clinics, and kindergartens. Representatives of this species are of tropical origin, so they do not live outdoors. They look for damp and insulated places near a source of food to create their anthill.

Interesting facts from their lives.

Some facts from the life of various species of ants in Russia and other countries are very interesting. There is a special branch of science that studies the peculiarities of their life - myrmecology. Myrmecologists have revealed many secrets associated with ants, and how many of them are left!

Let's look at some of the most interesting facts that may surprise many.

1. Ants are the largest insect species on earth. If you imagine all the insects on Earth, then their mass will be equal to the mass of all people living on the planet. For example, in Africa, about two billion ants live per 1 km2.

2. There is a custom among some African tribes associated with bullet ants. For a boy to become a man, he needs to go through the following ritual - putting a mitten full of goosebumps on his hand. And since their bites are poisonous, their hands become paralyzed, they swell and turn black.

3. Wood insects are used to prepare a special sauce, which is added to various dishes. Also, for some people, this type of ants, such as honey ones, is a delicacy. In their nest, a certain number of individuals are specially fed at a favorable time during the dry season, so that they can then drink the sugar nectar released from the abdomen.

People in Mexico and South America noticed this and began collecting these insects for delicacy. In Thailand and Myanmar, ant larvae are sold in markets and eaten like caviar in our country.

4. Most of these insects are females who cannot reproduce. And it is the ordinary workers who feed the larvae who choose whether the goosebump will become a queen or not. If you feed it in a special way, you can grow another colony queen. Usually there is only one queen, but there are varieties where all queens can breed or there may be several queens.

It is known that there have been cases of long life of the main females - the average age is 5-7 years, but sometimes 12 or even 20 years. No insect lives that long. But not all queens have this longevity.

5. Very interesting, the presence of learning in ants. There are some species where an ant that has previously found a source of food teaches another to do so.

6. Ants are excellent shepherds. And they graze a completely different type of insect - aphids. Previously, aphids' secretions were sharp and specific, repelling all enemies. But evolution decided that it would be easier for the insects if their milk, on the contrary, attracted ants. And so it happened - the ants guard and protect their arid pastures, and they, in turn, treat them with sweet nectar.

Some types of insects learned of their weakness and began to take advantage of it. Also secreting sweet juice, they make their way into the anthill and feed on their reserves, sometimes also devouring the larvae.

7. Also, these insects are not only shepherds, but also masters of agriculture. This is done by a separate species - leaf-cutter ants. They grow myceliums in special compartments of their nest, which they then feed on.

To do this, they need to bring home pieces of leaves onto which special fungi are transplanted. When a young queen is born, she leaves the nest to create her own colony, and she has a special pocket in which the fungus is deposited. It is curious that only termites, ants and humans grow their own food.

8. These insects can be slave owners. There is a species that penetrates other people's nests and kills the queen. After this, the killer ant takes the royal place, and the workers look after her and feed her. But such a female can only give birth to Amazons, which are born to capture other nests, so after some time the captured colony dies.

But there are also less cruel measures - some young queens steal several other people’s larvae, which at first help her create her own colony, and then the female copes on her own.

Why are ants dangerous?

It is generally accepted that ants do not cause significant harm. But still, insects can greatly harm human health. After all, contact with food and sewage leads to the spread of all kinds of infections. Many housewives have encountered the discomfort of new tenants. Ants crawl all over the apartment. They crawl into bags of garbage, then it’s their turn to eat fruit, bread (left on the table), or take up residence in the sugar bowl. Be that as it may, these insects need to be gotten rid of.

Advice:
The danger of infection by microbes depends not only on the discarded garbage bag of the apartment residents, but also on the neighbor’s. Pests can easily move from one apartment to the next.

Ants are also able to penetrate electrical and household appliances, thereby causing short circuits. They are even capable of being aggressive towards humans. For example, biting a newborn, which leads to an allergic reaction, pain and itching.

Notes

1. Arnoldi K.V., Dlussky G.M.
   Superfamily Formicoidea. Family Formicidae - Ants (Russian) // Key to insects of the European part of the USSR / edited by. ed. G. S. Medvedeva. - L.: Science, 1978. - T. 3 (Part 1). — pp. 519–556. (Key guides to the fauna of the USSR, published by the Zoological Institute of the USSR Academy of Sciences; issue 119).
2. ↑ Kupyanskaya A. N.
   Ants of the Far East of the USSR / A. S. Leley. - Vladivostok: Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1989. - 258 p. — 500 copies.
3. Arnoldi K.V.
   Zonal zoogeographical and ecological features of the myrmecofauna and ant population of the Russian Plain (Russian) // Zoological Journal. - 1968. - T. 47, No. 8. - P. 1155-1178.
4. ↑
5. Annotated catalog of insects of the Russian Far East. Volume I. Hymenoptera. / Leley A. S. (chief editor) and others. - Vladivostok: Dalnauka, 2012. - 635 p. — 300 copies. — ISBN 978-5-8044-1295-2.
6. ↑
7. Much of the Crimean Peninsula is the subject of territorial disputes between Russia, which controls the disputed territory, and Ukraine, within whose internationally recognized borders the disputed territory lies. According to the federal structure of Russia, on the disputed territory of Crimea there are constituent entities of the Russian Federation - the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol. According to the administrative division of Ukraine, on the disputed territory of Crimea there are regions of Ukraine - the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city with a special status of Sevastopol.
8. Arnoldi KV, 1930. Studien iiber die Systematik der Ameisen. 5. Der erste Vertreter der Tribe Proceratiini in USSR. Zool. Anz., 91: 143–146.
9. Buganin S.I. 1994. To the fauna of ants of the Ulyanovsk region. Insects of the Ulyanovsk region. Issue 5. Ulyanovsk: Phil. Moscow State University. 1994, pp.125-129.
10. Krasilnikov V. A. 2000. An unusual discovery of a new species of ants for the Chuvash Republic - (Dolichoderus quadripunctatus). — “Ecological Bulletin of the Chuvash Republic.” - Cheboksary, 2000, issue 21, p. 16-17.
11. Krasilnikov V. A. 2001. Detection of living ants in pomegranate fruits in the Chuvash Republic: a new species for the local fauna. — “Ants and forest protection (Materials of the 11th All-Russian Myrmek ​​Symposium, Perm, August 20-26, 2001).” - Perm, 2001, p. 147-148.
12. Kupyanskaya A.
    N. Ants of the Far East of the USSR. — Vladivostok: Far Eastern Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences. — 258 p. (p.155-156)
13. ↑ Red Book of the Kemerovo Region: T. 2. Rare and endangered species of animals. 2nd ed., revised. and additional — Kemerovo: “Asia Print”, 2012. — 192 p. (P.49) - from ill. ISBN 5-85119-080-9
14. Radchenko, AG
    Ants of the genus Chalepoxenus (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the fauna of the USSR (Russian) // Bulletin of Zoology: Journal. - Kyiv, 1989. - Vol. 2. - P. 37-41.
15. ↑ Arnoldi K.V.
    Review of harvester ants of the genus Messor (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the fauna of the USSR. (Russian) // Zoological Journal: Journal. - Kyiv, 1977. - Vol. 56. - P. 1637-1648.
16. ↑ Radchenko, A.;
    Elmes, G. W. Myrmica ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) of the Old World. - Warszawa: Museum and Institute of Zoology, 2010. - P. 108. - 1-789 p. - (Fauna mundi, 3). — ISBN 978-83-930773-1-1.
17. Dlussky G. M. Superfamily Formicoidea Latr. In the book: Rasnitsyn A.P. Higher Hymenoptera of the Mesozoic. M.: Science. 1975. pp. 114-121.
18. Dlussky G. M. Miocene ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the USSR. In the book: Vishnyakova V.N., Dlussky G.M., Pritykina L.N. New fossil insects from the territory of the USSR. M.: Science. 1981c. P.64-83.
19. Dlussky G.M. New formicoids from the Late Cretaceous. // Paleontol. magazine 1987. N 1. P. 131-135.
20. Dlussky G.M. Ants of Sakhalin amber (Paleocene?).// Paleontol. magazine 1988. N 1. P. 50-61.
21. Dlussky G. M. The first discovery of formicoids (Hymenoptera: Formicoidea) in the Lower Cretaceous deposits of the Northern Hemisphere. .// Paleontol. magazine 1999. No. 3. P. 62-66. ((English translation: Dlussky GM The First Find of Formicoidea (Hymenoptera) in the Lower Cretaceous of the Northern Hemisphere. // Paleontol. Journ. 1999. V. 33. No. 3. P. 274-277.)

Where do ants live indoors?

Insects prefer to create anthills in conditions that are suitable for breeding and living. Basically, pests build a nest near water with food. Therefore, ants can rarely be found in living rooms. They prefer the kitchen and bathroom. A colony of pests can be seen behind the sink, between the floorboards in the cracks, under the bathroom, in the kitchen behind the cabinet. In the bathroom, the nest can be seen in damp places at the back of the cabinet or behind the tiles. Insects are also able to settle in the basement. The presence of humidity, warmth and plenty of food are suitable conditions for their residence.

It is important!
A common cause of ants appearing in an apartment is an uncleaned kitchen with leftover food.

Indoors, ants live in a colony, which has a certain composition and number of individuals. They are divided into queen, drones and workers. The nest can be seen even in the most unexpected place. This could be a flower pot, under a tile or behind the baseboards.

Society

A family takes many years to form, and the number of ants in one nest can exceed 1 million individuals. Sometimes colonies separate, occupying nearby space. Society consists of three castes: females, males and workers. If one of them fails to cope with his duties, then he is either removed or killed altogether.

In a good half of cases, distinguishing a representative of one caste from another is quite simple. Females and males are larger than the others and are distinguished by the presence of wings, while workers are completely devoid of them. But there are also exceptions when the latter moves freely through the air.

Behavior of ants in the apartment

House ants are considered to be fairly organized insects. Each member of the colony is assigned a specific job. Working individuals obtain food for the queen and larvae. They are very hardy. In search of water or food, worker ants can explore the entire kitchen in a day.

When they discover a food source, they pave the way for other individuals to it, and they mark the path with a specific smell. When the food found is large enough to transport it, the ant’s glands begin to actively work and secrete special saliva. It helps soften products. After which the ant bites off a piece of the required size and transfers it to the nest. Due to the saliva and slimy substance (reminiscent of cobwebs), food should not be consumed.

All individuals follow a daily routine. During the daytime, each ant within the colony does a specific job. When it starts to get dark, all the insects return to their homes. At night the entrance is sealed. Due to this regime, it is possible to see ants in the apartment only during the day.

Signs by which you can notice a colony of ants:

• After 2-3 hours, ants crawl on the left piece of sugar.
• The presence of thread-like traces of a white tint on the products.
• There are ants in tightly sealed jars and bags.

An ant colony can grow at a very fast pace. Soon, a small part of the pests, together with the female, separate from the colony to form a new nest in another place. The constant reproduction of insects allows individuals to colonize other areas of the apartment. After a few months, under suitable conditions, you can see small anthills in all rooms of the room. Then it is quite difficult to get rid of all the anthills at the same time.

Experts' opinion

You should not think that house ants will disappear from your living space on their own, or hope that all insects will be destroyed after a single application of an insecticide. To prevent domestic red ants from leaving your home and not returning there, you should use simple advice from experts:

• use long-acting means to combat crawling insects;
• apply drugs in areas where the movement of ants is most intense;
• regularly update the applied toxic substances that have toxic activity against household ants;
• If there are a large number of pests, use the most powerful chemicals that contain insecticides.

When choosing a remedy against house ants, you should not forget about the reviews of homeowners who have already encountered an infestation of pests and successfully dealt with the problem. The preparations in the form of gels “Clean House” and “Dohloks” received the greatest number of positive ratings.

What do ants eat in an apartment?

Any type of food is suitable for ants in a living space. It can survive even with small food crumbs. Ants are able to feed on any spices and synthetic products. Therefore, at any time of the year, food in containers must be tightly closed.

Basically, the diet of insects is the same as that of humans. In winter, ants can migrate into the apartment. Insects eat different foods. It depends on the situation in the colony. The best food goes to older individuals, others eat different food.

The uterus prefers protein foods, mainly of animal origin. Larvae prefer carbohydrate foods. In the apartment they enjoy honey, foods containing sugar, and jam.

How to destroy a queen ant

Ants are a very organized system, headed by a queen, or queen. She is the one who lays the eggs, and the others protect and care for her, even bringing her food.

If the queen dies, then most likely the entire flock will disperse, since it is thanks to her that the ants multiply in apartments. On very rare occasions, they find a young replacement for their queen.

It is quite difficult to destroy the uterus, since it is located in the most secret place. It is for this reason that sweet baits with poison are considered the best way to fight ants - this way the poison will definitely reach the queen.

If the exact location of the shelter is known, then you can use a special spray with poisons.

Photo comparison of what the queen looks like in relation to an ordinary ant.

Why are ants difficult to get rid of?

• These insects are omnivores.
• Worker ants crawl around the apartment, obtaining food for the queen and the entire colony. If they are destroyed, the queen will send new individuals in search of food.

Prevention measures:

• Sweep and vacuum the kitchen floor every day.
• Keep the trash can tightly closed.
• Hide all products in places that are difficult for insects to reach.
• Do not leave dirty dishes.
• Wash off sticky residues on containers.
• Do not store scented products (deodorants, cleaning products, creams) in the open.
• Wipe down all surfaces in the kitchen.

Varieties

A huge anthill can contain a large number of species of very different individuals. Each type has its own characteristics. And it's not just about how they look. Each breed has its own specific behavior and lifestyle.

For example, there are those who can withstand high temperatures, while others, on the contrary, are not afraid of low temperatures.

Take the bullet ant. This insect is capable of withstanding temperatures that would be lethal to others.

1. Pharaoh. This type is best known to people who live in an apartment or private house. It is these small parasites that run along the baseboard, prefer the trash can and love to feast on crumbs from the table. Such insects are very difficult to exterminate from the premises. Over the entire area of ​​the apartment, they can settle several females at once, who will be surrounded by a couple of hundred ordinary workers. All nests will be interconnected in such a way that a real colony emerges. They can occupy several floors at once.
2. Ginger. These are fairly well-known ants in Russia. It is these hard workers who build huge houses, up to several meters high, which house several thousand insects at once. In fact, the full name of this species is the red wood ant. And they are considered an endangered species, whose numbers are constantly decreasing.
3. Reaper ant. Individuals of this ant species are known for storing large amounts of food in their homes. A harvester ant can store about 1 kg of seeds for the winter, plus the same amount of dead insects. This will be enough for a thousandth family. Notable is the fact that the harvester ant begins its flight in the spring, unlike all other species in which this occurs in the summer. The harvester ant has one more feature. It consists in the fact that it uses ground plant grain to feed its larvae. While in other cases the larvae consume animal food. The soldier reaper ant, with the help of its powerful jaw, grinds the largest grains, and smaller individuals chew what is left.
4. Bulldog. This is a representative of the tropics. It can only be found in Australia. This is the most primitive species, which is very similar to wasps. These are big ants. For example, a worker ant can reach 3 cm. This species of the largest insects was named so because they have a large jaw, which helps them get food and jump. Using their jaws, these insects can push off the ground and jump up to 30 cm. The largest ants swim well. The larvae independently consume food, which is obtained by workers. Bulldog is dangerous. It has a sting, and its venom causes allergies and can cause anaphylactic shock.
5. Nomadic. Another identifier of this type of ants is killer ants. They received this name due to the fact that during their movements they destroy all arthropods and small rodents. The main feature of this species is that it has no home. The colony prefers temporary shelter, either a place in a hole or under a stone. It is there that the queen lays eggs. As soon as a certain number of young individuals grow up and the food runs out, the colony looks for a new habitat.
6. Woodworms. These are the insects that can be seen on tree trunks collecting honeydew. Carpenter ants got their name because they build their own nest in the bark of a living tree. They gnaw passages and chambers in wood. Their actions are harmful to forestry.
7. Amazons. Amazon ants are a rather specific species that does not have a working subspecies. Their offspring include a queen and soldier ants. To get food, they attack their more peaceful counterparts.
8. Leaf cutter. A species that engages in agriculture. Moreover, its level is quite high-tech.
9. Parasite. This species is numerous. They parasitize in different ways, but usually at the expense of other individuals.
10. White ant. In fact, it is the same termite. White individuals are distinguished by their skill in constructing their settlements. The location can be a tree, stump, or log. It might even turn out to be something like a skyscraper – a termite mound. They use shredded wood as building material.