Help! Ants can live in computers because of a cup of milk tea

When talking about ants' nests, what places come to mind? In caves? In tree trunks? Or in ball nests hanging from branches? Yes, these are common choices for ants to build nests. However, some ants have a unique taste for living, and even live in "high-tech" houses - someone accidentally spilled milk tea on the laptop screen, which attracted a group of ants, and they simply lived in the gap between the computer screen... This made the computer owner lose his defense on the spot.

Image source: Internet screenshot

Who are these ants that have taken over computer monitors? Let's solve the case.

01

That's you, little house ant!

Although the ants in the video are almost blurred into pixels, some small details reveal their identity. First of all, these ants are definitely not that big. Secondly, let's pause the video and zoom in. The worker ants are slender, and several big-butt queen ants are mixed in. Combined with the size and the silhouettes of the worker ants and queen ants, it can be inferred that they should be small house ants (don't ask, just ask the temperament). In fact, if you can zoom in and take a closer look at the real thing, the two small ball-shaped nodules between their chest and abdomen are also a feature.

The slightly larger one in the red circle is the queen ant

As the name suggests, many species of house ants can be found in our homes. Because of their small size, they can build nests in various corners of the home, brick joints, cabinets and various narrow gaps that we can hardly imagine. Their living environment requirements are very casual. This group of guys in the news really raised their choice of nesting site to a higher level.

There are two main types of common house ants in China: Chinese house ants and Pharaoh house ants - one is a native Chinese ant, and the other is an invasive species from Africa. The two can be distinguished directly with the naked eye: Chinese house ants are pure black or brown, while Pharaoh house ants are covered with golden armor except for a black abdomen, which looks a bit like an Egyptian mummy. However, in this news, because the screen light is too bright and backlit, it is difficult to see what color it is. I personally prefer the Pharaoh house ant.

Photo provided by the author: The Chinese house ant is really small, only about 2mm in size. The picture is magnified several times.

Image source: Wikipedia

The big picture of Pharaoh's family ants comes from antweb

02

Check-in screen

For other ants, every spring, when flowers begin to bloom, winged ants fly out: female ants and male ants (note: different from termites!). After mating, the male ants "die of exhaustion", and the female ants shed their wings after landing, find a hole to drill down and raise their babies, and then become the queen ant. This process is called "nuptial flight".

Having said so much, it has nothing to do with the small house ants. The small house ants do not marry and fly. They produce queens and directly "digest" them internally. The queens in the family become more and more prosperous, and the number increases, and they live in harmony with each other. Correspondingly, the number of worker ants can almost be infinitely expanded. If the conditions are right, the number of worker ants in a family can reach millions. Just like our ancient clan families, after they prosper to a certain scale, they can split up. This is also a major feature of the small house ants.

In this way, we can speculate about the nest of ants in the news: a few worker ants came out to find food and found milk tea and sweets on the screen. They took a few bites and immediately turned around to notify other worker ants, and more and more worker ants came to "drink". At this time, everyone found that, hey? This place is not bad~ The gap is narrow, just enough for their small bodies to live in it, and at the same time it can ensure safety. This place is good! So, they called a few queen ants to separate from the original family, and then these guys lived in the screen. But the owner of the computer couldn't do anything about them,

03

The inconspicuous little invader

Speaking of invasive ants, the name of the red fire ant is well-known far and wide. It is deeply remembered by people all over the country for its huge destructive power and formic acid that is so severe that it can cause shock. However, no matter how powerful the red fire ant is, it can only cause trouble in the south, because its nests are relatively shallow and its ability to resist cold is very poor, so it cannot continue to invade the north. Can people in the north rest assured? No! There is another type of invasive ant that is found all over the country, regardless of north or south - the Pharaoh House Ant.

If you think this name is too long, you can also call it the yellow house ant or the Pharaoh ant. As the name suggests, their homeland is from the distant African continent, but now due to human activities, the Pharaoh ants have crossed the ocean and invaded all over the world. Except for the areas near the poles, they can be seen in most countries. In our country, they first invaded the southern region (they like warm areas), but because they mainly live indoors, and most of our northern regions have indoor heating, the northern regions have not been spared from the invasion.

Distribution map of Pharaoh ants. The red area is their invasion range (map from antmaps.org)

Red fire ants are more directly harmful to humans, so our focus is on them. The harm of Pharaoh ants is not obvious. There is no formic acid in their stings that is dangerous enough to send people to the hospital, and they do not have sharp mandibles. Unlike red fire ants, they do not appear in the wild, but are closely tied to human life. What is the danger?

I once found a dead bat in a green belt, covered with Pharaoh ants. Let alone whether the dead bat still carries harmful viruses and bacteria to humans, just think about the Pharaoh ants at home who taste some unknown animal carcasses or other unclean things outside, and then come home to feast on our food. In various countries, they are disgusting disease spreaders.

The yellow dots on the dead bats are Pharaoh ants.

They are just a small role in the natural environment. They just live according to their own "programs" and spread all over the world with the help of humans. What should we do if we encounter them in our homes? Don't hesitate, use ant medicine!

Author | Ye Zhengrong

Review | Huang Chengming, Researcher, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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