Echidnas have an extremely specialized diet, which has probably helped to make them so successful. No other mammal in Australia eats ants and termites, so they have no competition for food. The echidna's body is highly adapted for this diet.
Creatures That Eat Ants
Other insects such as beetles, caterpillars and flies. Spiders, such as black widow spiders and jumping spiders. Snails and other hard-shelled organisms. Snakes.
But to ants termites are a source of food and their mounds are even a place to live after an invasion battle. Frilled lizards feed largely on termites as do geckoes, legless lizards and skinks. Blind snakes also enjoy the feast. Goannas are attracted to termite mounds to feed on those that squat or eat there.
Anteaters have tongues made for eating ants. In addition to being two feet long, tiny spikes and sticky saliva cover their tongues. They consume upwards of 35,000 ants and termites in a day. Pangolins are another animal that primarily eats ants and termites.
The garden ant is a native Australian species. Their colonies are known to grow up to 40,000 workers and some specimens apparently live up to 30 years.
They are getting ready to reach out and start a new colony. They fly in order to find a good place to start a colony and to look for suitable mates. Much of the time flying ants will emerge and set out on their swarming flights after a heavy rain, but they can also come out at other times.
Unfortunately for the ants' colony, when the queen dies, the worker ants can only survive for a few months. The colony dies off rather quickly because the workers cannot reproduce. When there's no queen to lay eggs, the workers die off, and there are no new ones hatched to replace them.
Ants are the greatest predators of termites, and may have a considerable local impact on termite populations in some areas of the world. A few parasitoids of termites are known, but their potential for regulating termite populations seems negligible.
The anteater is one of the best known animals that consumes ants. This creature is built specifically for the task. Anteaters have sharp claws that help them tear into anthills.
Ants are the Enemy of Termites
Ants are the biggest natural predators of termites. If you have an established colony of ants in your yard, it is highly unlikely that you will have an established colony of termites.
Sunlight. Termites hate sunlight. In fact, they can die from too much sunlight and heat exposure. If you suspect that a piece of furniture has termites, drag it to the yard to bake in the sun for a bit.
The strong citronella scent of lemongrass can deter termites along with many other lawn and garden pests. A study from Cornell University's Cooperative Extension Service concluded that lemongrass oil is effective at repelling subterranean termites.
Cellulose. The food of termites is mainly cellulose, which is obtained from wood, grass, leaves, humus, manure of herbivorous animals, and materials of vegetative origin (e.g., paper, cardboard, cotton). Most lower termites and many higher ones feed on wood that is either sound or partly decayed.
Boiling water. If you notice ant holes near your home, pour boiling water into them. This method will effectively and immediately kill many of the ants inside.
Some herbs that will keep ants away are catnip, pennyroyal, peppermint, sage, and spearmint. Scattering the leaves of these plants in areas of your house where you've seen ants may keep them away. Tansy will work on sugar ants — the ones you see in your kitchen.
To the naked eye, ants deal with their dead much like humans. When a member of the colony dies, the carcass will lie where it fell for a period of roughly two days. In the fashion of a wake, this time period presumably gives the other ants time to pay their respects to their fallen comrade.
In temperate zones ants are scavengers of animal detritus and predators in the detrital food web, and they forage for seeds, honeydew and nectar in the herbivore food web, in which they can also act as predators (Ho¨lldobler and Wilson 1990, Bestelmeyer et al.
So you'd need to know the person's weight and then multiply that by 200 to 300 ants.
On the conservative side, there are some 2.5 million ants for every person on Earth. Who would win in a fight, you or 2.5 million ants?
Vinegar's acetic acid is corrosive to termite exoskeletons. This acid spray kills termites. This treatment must be sprayed on termite bodies. If you can't access most of the termites, immerse their colony in vinegar.
Lavender oil as eco-friendly alternative to protect wood against termites without negative effect on wood properties - PMC. The . gov means it's official.
Different Species Have Different Lifespans
Another important factor affecting longevity of ants is species. For comparison, odorous house ant workers, a commonly seen ant inside homes, tend to live about two to three years, while a fire ant worker lives only about five weeks.
The team found switching the expression of just a single protein, Kr-h1, in the brains of ants is enough to elevate an ant from worker to queen. Kr-h1's responds to two hormones: one found more in workers, and one found in greater abundance in queens.
Ants adhere to a caste system, and at the top is the queen. She's born with wings and referred to as a princess until she takes part in the nuptial flight, mates with a male ant, and flies off to start her own colony.