Talk:Ants of medical importance

Copyright

The photos used in this article are copyrighted, and are used by permission (see below) from the author, Bart Drees, Director, Texas Imported Fire Ant Project, Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University. The particular photos I used were taken by Dr. Drees.

Many more images like these can be seen at their Fire Ant Web site (Home Page, Photos).

Correspondence

B. M. Drees, Hi.

Those photographs are wonderful! You can see the first version of my article at killer ants.

I would like to add (reduced size) versions of the following photos:

5. RIFA 24. RIFA mound 48. RIFA stinging 98. Red harvester ants 99. Pharaoh ant 100. Yellow crazy ant 110. Cow killer ant

Also, if you have photos of the following (especially Army ants and Driver ants), I would love to include them:

• Red velvet ants (Dasymusilla magnifica)
• Argentine ants (Linepithema humile)
• Bulldog ants (Soldier ants, Genus Myrmecia)
• Bullet ants (Paraponera clavata)
• Honeypot ants (genus Myrmecocystus)
• Amazon ants (Polyergus breviceps)
• New World Army ants (Eciton burchelli)
• Driver ants (Subfamily Dorylinae, Subgenus Anomma)

Thanks, David

Dear David Spector

You have my permission to use those images. Note that I did not take all of them. Please cite the photographer and source (either Texas A&M Univ. or our web site address) with each slide.

B. M. Drees

Killer ants is a term to describe any of several species of ants that are predatory, attack en masse when their mounds are disturbed, and can kill animals many times their size (even deer). They have been called the fiercest predators on Earth. Predator ants kill more individuals than all the big predators combined.

Certainly most ants, killers or not, can't kill healthy deer. Most sources say things like driver ants will kill animals as large as rabbits if that can't get out of the way, but that is not quite the same thing. Where is this documented? It doesn't seem to come from the Fire Ant website linked to above.

The main colony of Argentine Ants is described as Italy, Atlantic coast of Spain. Should it be main colonies? If not, which is the main one?

jimfbleak 12:15 26 May 2003 (UTC)

I forget the reference for killer ants killing deer, but this happens when livestock are tied up, so they can't escape. An example was shown in the recent Public TV documentary on killer ants. They also described a case in which a baby was attacked (although its cries brought immediate rescue). By the way, Fire Ants are not usually considered to be killer ants, I believe.

No, it should be 'colony'. This particular one, although very large, is considered to be a single compound organism, much as is a coral reef or a grove of connected trees. (The oldest living organism is considered to be a certain grove of connected trees.)

David 16:26 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Killing animals which are tied down is much easier than killing those which are free, and to avoid sensationalism I think it's important to note the difference. Since big predators don't kill many people, I wonder how valuable it is to note ants kill more - so do livestock, which aren't especially fierce.

Anonymous

Killer ants have been called the greatest predators on Earth. Obviously they are not the greatest predators of large mammals. David 16:24 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Honeypot Ants

Aren't these harmless ants that you can eat the enlarged portion of? --MSTCrow July 2, 2005 00:58 (UTC)

I'm going to try and fix this. This is nonsense. 66.146.62.30 04:35, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Azoicity?

Is there a definition somewhere for "azoicity"? I was intrigued but a Google search only returns pages which quote this Wikipedia article. Seems odd even for such a highly technical term.

Re: (Sir Francis Bacon) Yeah, I tried to fix that, as well as the "dingbaticus", but then the next day the same person that originally added "dingbaticus" added azoicity and thoraxicascoucity as well.

Clean up?

It seems to me that the article is in heavy need of clean up, and confirmation that many of these species are, in fact, "killer ants". The Jade Knight 02:07, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Death can come from anaphalactic shock via the toxins, and if you have a allergy to stings, these ants can kill you. Martial Law 00:26, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Add to the list

Add the Saifu Ant to the list. It was featured on the Discovery Channel's show Killer Ants. It will kill and eat people as if they are other prey. Martial Law 00:21, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

These were featured killing farm animals and had allegedly killed a human who was either ill or drunk. The film showed them killing and eating livestock down to the bone. Martial Law 00:23, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

And the Jack jumper ant. The Siafu incidentally (not Saifu, which is just a little bit different ), is already included...it is the Driver ant. Tomer^talk 21:43, 23 July 2006 (UTC)

Myrmecocystus genus

I'm intrigued by the bizarre conclusions drawn about the famous 'honeypot' ants - the two species I have here in my yard, Myrmecocystus mimicus and Myrmecocystus mexicanus, are respectively dark- and light-coloured and, contradicting the article, are diurnal and nocturnal. I'm going to delete Honeypot ants from the table until somebody can cite something in support of their inclusion. 66.146.62.30 04:35, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

Requested move

This article seems to deal with "ants of medical importance" and would suggest that the title should be more appropriate than "killer ant" (killing what, many ants do kill their prey)? There seems to be no recognized usage of the phrase "killer ant" in the style of say killer bee. Shyamal (talk) 17:15, 27 August 2008 (UTC)

Medically beneficial ants?

I have read that some ants practice zoopharmacognosy, collecting antifungal plant species in their nests; is there record of humans using this for their own medicine? Arlo James Barnes 21:36, 26 December 2024 (UTC)