Diet and Feeding Process:
These organisms exhibit remarkable adaptability, consuming a wide range of food sources, including deceased animals (including insects), human and pet food, fruits, nuts, vomit, feces, and even human sputum. Additionally, they engage in mutualistic relationships with aphids and mealybugs, farming them for honeydew, a sugary substance expelled by these insects as a byproduct of their sap-based diet. Their symbiotic association benefits both species, with the ants obtaining sustenance and the aphids receiving protection. This exceptional adaptability contributes greatly to their invasive behavior in foreign countries. During feeding, forager ants use their mandibles to process solid food, transporting it to their nests, or utilizing their proboscis to ingest liquids. They possess secondary stomachs for food storage, allowing them to supply the queen and brood with sustenance, not unlike the majority of other ant species.
Native Areas:
Indigenous to Northern Argentina, Southern Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, and other tropical regions, these organisms demonstrate impressive resilience and invasive tendencies. Although they predominantly inhabit tropical and sub-tropical forests, their global distribution as a pest underscores their ability to thrive in various environments. In these forests, they coexist with other insects, such as Fire Ants and Army Ants, fiercely competing for limited resources. However, such fierce competition throughout their evolution is what attributes to their hardiness and general success when invading other regions.
Predators and Defensive Measures:
While lizards, birds, and other creatures consume ants, the Argentine Ant seemingly poses no real challenge due to their small size (2-3 mm), glossy appearance, absence of hair, and lack of defensive capabilities. However, their resilience stems mainly from their extensive populations. Unlike most ant species that rely on distinct pheromones to differentiate between individuals from their colony and rival colonies, Argentine Ants exhibit an extreme form of polygamy, forming super-colonies. These super-colonies can accommodate numerous queens, far surpassing the polygamous tendencies of other ant species. Notably, the largest known Argentine Ant super-colony spans over 6,000 km (3,700 mi) in the Mediterranean region, encompassing northern Italy, southern France, and the western coast of Spain, likely housing hundreds of thousands of queens.
Life Cycle:
During late spring and early summer, winged Argentine Ant alates (kings and queens) embark on mating flights following rainfall. Once the mating process concludes, the male kings perish, and the queens establish their own colonies by burrowing into moist areas near food sources. The queen will nourish her larvae with fat reserves that accumulated during her time in the mother colony. As the eggs develop into larvae, then pupae, and eventually mature into worker ants, they venture out of the nest to forage for food and sustain their malnourished queen. However, newly mated queens can also integrate into established colonies, as prompted by their polygamous nature.
Danger and Removal:
While Argentine Ants do not pose a direct threat to humans, they inflict substantial damage to agriculture. In the United States alone, the government spends approximately $250 million dollars annually in attempts to control their population. Interestingly, a species called False Honey Ants (Winter Ants) can impede the invasive Argentine Ants by secreting a peculiar liquid from their abdomen. The properties of this substance are still under investigation. When considering anthropogenic solutions, aerosol poisons are not recommended as they can lead to the fragmentation of super-colonies, exacerbating the infestation. Instead, poison lures that entice the ants to carry poisoned food back to their colonies are a preferable approach, gradually eliminating them from within. If all else fails, identify forager trails and apply boiling water directly to their nests, they are typically located near the surface so this method often proves to be an effective solution.
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