SEMUT / COMMON ANTS
Secara umumnya sebenarnya Semut mempunyai kumpulan dan ketegori yang berbeza-beza. Berikut adalah kumpulan Semut yang sering kita jumpa di persekitaran kita.
Carpenter Ants
Biology and Habits
Carpenter ants, vary in size and color
but are usually large (1/4-1/2 inch) and blackish. Occasionally, swarms of
winged carpenter ant reproductives will emerge inside a home. Carpenter ant
swarms usually occur in the spring and are a sure sign that a colony is nesting
somewhere inside the structure.
Winged carpenter ants can be distinguished from termites by their larger
size and shape of their antennae, waist and wings.
Besides being objectionable by their
presence, carpenter ants damage wood by hollowing it out for nesting. They
excavate galleries in wood which have a smooth, sandpapered appearance. Wood
which has been damaged by carpenter ants contains no mud-like material, as is
the case with termites. Shredded fragments of wood, similar in appearance to
coarse sawdust, are ejected from the galleries through pre-existing cracks or
slits made by the ants. When such accumulations are found (typically containing
dead ants and bits of insects which the carpenter ants have eaten), it's a good
indication that a carpenter ant nest is nearby. Oftentimes, however, the
excavated sawdust remains hidden behind a wall or in some other concealed area.
Pharaoh
Ant
Biology and Habits
Pharaoh ants are small, yellow ants about
1/16-inch long. They have two nodes and the workers are all one
size. It is often confused with the thief ant which is also a small,
yellow ant with two nodes. The Pharaoh ant's antenna has 12 segments and
ends in a three-segmented club. the thief ant's antenna has only 10
segments and a two-segmented club.
The Pharaoh ant can be found throughout
the United States but is most common in the southern states. In northern
states, it is most commonly found in apartments and commercial buildings such as
hotels and hospitals. In the South, this ant is a common pest in homes as
well as other buildings. In temperate climates such as the United States,
the Pharaoh ant cannot survive outdoors year-round and so is found in close
association with heated buildings. It can survive outside only in the
subtropical areas of the country such as Florida and Hawaii.
Pharaoh ants do not build mounds or
carve out galleries in wood. The nest in any dark void in a
structure. Nest locations include wall voids, cabinet voids, behind
baseboards and window moldings, behind insulation of appliances, inside hollow
curtain and shower rods, boxes and expansion joints in slabs. They may
even be found in areas such as folded paper sacks and newspapers.
Outside, these ants can be found in leaf litter, flower pots and in the debris
of rain gutters.
Pharaoh ant colonies can grow large enough to
contain as many as 300,000 workers and many queens. The queens are very
mobile and so are the colonies. This is a key point to remember when
attempting to eliminate infestations.
Ghost
Ants
Biology
Tapinoma melanocephalum is
a species of ant that goes by the common name
ghost ant. They are recognised by their dark head and pale or translucent legs
and gaster (abdomen). This colouring makes this tiny ant (1⁄16 of
an inch, 1.5 mm) seem even smaller.
The ghost ant's diet consists mainly of sweets but
they will also feed on grease and occasionally living or dead insects. They
exhibit a high need for moisture, and although colonies are usually established
outside, they can readily "set up camp" inside domestic houses during
dry conditions. This is a widespread tropical species, found
throughout the world. Its native range is unknown. The ghost ant is thought to be so named because the
legs and abdomen of the insect look transparent, with only the head and thorax
being dark brown in colour.
Observed in infested buildings with the naked eye
they are quite difficult to distinguish from pharaoh ants, being
virtually of the same size. Like a lot of small insects a positive
identification can only be made once is a specimen is looked at through a
microscope.
The worker ants form trails like pharaoh ants,
taking food back to the nest, and also like pharaoh ants, the queens are
communal, so that there can be several queens in a colony, and several thousand
workers. New colonies can be formed when a queen and some workers migrate away.
Fire Ants
Biology
Red Imported Fire Ants are more aggressive than other ant
species and have a painful sting. These ants and their telltale mound nests
should be actively avoided. Red Imported Fire Ants can adapt to many climates
and conditions in and around their environment. For example, if the colony
senses increased water levels in their nests, they will come together and form
a huge ball or raft that is able to float on the water!
Fire ants are a variety of stinging ants with
over 285 species worldwide. They have several common names, including ginger
ants, tropical fire ants, and red ants.
Fire ant mound
The bodies of fire ants, like all insects'
bodies, are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax,
the abdomen, with three pairs of legs and a pair
of antennae. Fire ants can be distinguished from other ants by
their copper brown head and body with a darker abdomen. The worker ants are
blackish to reddish, and their size varies from 2 mm to 6 mm (0.12 in to 0.24
in). These different sizes of the ants can all exist in the same nest.
Solenopsis spp. ants can be identified with three body
features—a pedicel with two nodes, an unarmed propodeum and antennae with 10 segments and
a two-segmented club.
Many ants bite, and can cause irritation by
injecting formic acid; stinging ants have a dedicated
venom-injecting sting as well as mandibles.
Fire ant bite. Effects
of fire ants bite marks
