Mary Allen
The hard-working insects also contribute to the dispersal of plant seeds. Wood ants, for example, transport the seeds of around 150 plant species. Ants also clean the forest and carry away dead animals. And more importantly, as predatory animals, they destroy pests in large quantities.
Why are ants so important?
Why ants are useful. They contribute to biodiversity by carrying and dispersing seeds. They also support the balance of nature by consuming pests. An ant colony eats up to 100,000 pests – per day!
What would be without ants?
Before plants colonize a wasteland, the ants settle there and rearrange several layers of soil. If, on the other hand, there were no ants, it would be very difficult for the plants to settle down in such places. The soil would wear away a little with every downpour.
What jobs do ants do?
They take on all imaginable tasks such as finding food, caring for the brood, building the nest, defending and caring for their mother, the queen. Although all workers are female, they generally do not lay eggs. However, there are exceptions here too.
Why are ants useful in the garden?
In many cases, fighting ants is not necessary at all, because ants are very useful in the vegetable garden because they bring dead plant parts into the soil as biomass. They also provide ventilation with their tunnels and feed on pests such as wireworms, cabbage white caterpillars or snail eggs.
Are ants useful or harmful?
Where the animals don’t bother you, you can let them have their way, because as robbers, ants devour large quantities of pests. In addition, ants provide bio-mass in the soil when building nests and as “health police” they remove carrion and dead insects.
Are ants unhygienic?
Because some ant species are not only unappetizing and unhygienic, some even transmit diseases, which is why their presence in hospitals or canteen kitchens is under no circumstances allowed.
Can an ant bite?
When an ant attacks, it bites the skin with its pincers. In addition, she squirts out a secretion containing formic acid, which is very painful for humans. The skin around the puncture site reddens and a small pustule develops – similar to a nettle bite.
What are the enemies of ants?
Last but not least, ants serve as food for other forest animals: ants are food for birds, lizards, toads, small snakes and spiders. But the real enemy of the red wood ant is humans, who are destroying their habitat and their nests.
Who eats the ants?
Gallinaceous birds such as pheasants, partridges, capercaillie and others eat ants and their brood in large quantities, especially during brood rearing. Flight hunters such as swallows and swifts capture large numbers of flying sex animals from ants during the swarming season.
Does the ant have bones?
Like all insects, ants are invertebrates. You have no bones. For this they are well armored like a knight in his armour. You have six legs and your body is divided into three sections.
What is special about ants?
The ant has six legs and a body that is divided into three sections and consists of a head, a thorax, and an abdomen. Ants can be reddish-brown, black, or yellowish in color depending on the species. They have armor made of chitin, a very hard substance.
Can ants be dangerous?
Ants in themselves are not dangerous to our health. Nevertheless, most people find them annoying when they are in large numbers in the house, apartment, or garden. Also, they can do quite a bit of damage.