There are no wonders in nature. In hot countries you can find anthills with unusual insects. They differ in amber round belly of huge sizes.
These are honey ants (photo and description are presented in the article).
general information
These exotic and rather peculiar insects are adapted to the climatic conditions of hot deserts. You can meet them in North America (Mexico and the western part of the USA), Australia and South Africa. These places differ in a small amount of water and food. There are 5 known genera of such ants, which differ in their unusual appearance, reminiscent of an amber jewelry. In these huge round belly, liquid carbohydrate accumulates. This is honey.
Like other species, honey ants live in colonies, and each of them has its own size. The number of one colony is from hundreds to several million insects. These include the uterus, which can lay up to 1, 500 eggs per day, as well as males and worker ants.
This detachment of ants received this name in connection with the food consumed by them - honey (or honey) dew. The dew source is plant aphids. This variety of insects eats plant juice, which contains a considerable amount of sugar. The excess of the latter, which is secreted by plant aphids, is that very honey dew, which honey ants lick with pleasure from plants. Usually insects find such food on the leaves of plants, but in its absence, ants are accepted to "milk" plant aphids. They pat it with their antennas, trying to isolate this important nutrient for them.
Description
Honey ants, as noted above, have an original appearance. A round large abdomen filled with honey makes them unusual. The rest of them is all the same as all members of the family. They have a small head with antennae and 3 pairs of legs.
There is another name for these unique individuals - barrel ants. Their abdominal wall is so elastic that it can reach the size of a whole grape. In this regard, the locals gave them another name - earthen grapes.
Insect features
Honey ants are an environmental group that includes insects of several genera. They are able to accumulate liquid carbohydrates in the abdominal part of one of the castes of workers.
There is not enough food for ants in the deserts, therefore, in their colonies, honey ants are a kind of "storage barrels." They are so full of nutritious juice to their belly that they are not even able to move around. In this state, they are suspended on the ceiling of the house (anthill) in anticipation of the end of food supplies.
When other colony ants need food, they make these pot-bellied "sweet tooth" give them some juice. Fructose and glucose contained in honey dew, provide them with sufficient strength and energy for life. In lean years in large anthills, where there are more than one and a half thousand insects, large accumulations of sweet dew in the abdomen allow them to survive.
Do not mind eating "sweet barrels" and the locals who catch these insects and eat them like sweets.
Lifestyle & Nutrition
On the surface of the earth, this unusual insect cannot be found. Honey ants - this is one of the castes of the usual-looking ants. Being pupae, individuals attach to the walls of the anthill, becoming immobile.
They eat quite a lot, and the rest of the relatives constantly feed them, the features of which are described above in the article. In this way, this funny sweet belly arises.
Breeding honey ants
Keeping ants at home is a rather original and exotic activity.
When breeding these unusual insects, one has to deal with many related insects: cockroaches, flies, crickets, etc. In addition, feed crops, which are common for ants in their natural habitats, must also be kept. Without them, it is impossible to get a full-fledged prosperous colony.
What to do:
- Decide on the desired variety of ants.
- Purchase appropriate equipment for terrariums and feed insects.
- Find an ant uterus (buy or catch by yourself). More often it is acquired “by hand” from other amateurs-worldmekologists.
- Create the necessary conditions for keeping the incubator with the uterus (rest, darkness and temperature of approximately 27 ° C).
- Purchase a magnifier, tweezers, thermometer, several test tubes.
- Make an incubator in advance.
