mini-me ants

[pianonut]

this is a strange topic, i know!  i've had a bowl of fruit on the kitchen island for a couple of days.  was expecting that i might see some little fruit flies.  but, what do i see instead?  these little things that don't fly running around on the counter just like fruit flies except that they can't fly.  quickly got a paper towel smushed them and put them in the garbage.  then, i thought, wait a minute,  they're small, but they don't fly.  (i mean microscopic).  so, i get the paper towel back out of the garbage and look really close.  these are a mutation on fruitflies.  they are the smallest ants i have ever seen and they run around half crazy (like fruitflies).  have you ever heard of mini-me ants?  i've seen the larger small size, but not the microscopic.

[thalbergmad]

Put them in the fridge, you might have found a new genus and you need to preserve them.

Just think they could be called

nonflyuspianonutus

[pianonut]

cute!  i was hoping this thread wouldn't die as fast as it was created. 

maybe being relatively new to pennsylvania, i haven't discovered what naturally lives here yet.  these bugs are very annoying because they run so fast in very many different directions (as fruit flies fly).  i am used to killing ants quickly because they are supposed to run in a line and you just wipe them up.  these ants are crazy.  they don't follow each other.  that's why i thought they were fruit flies.  i am afraid to refrigerate them.  they might like it.   the last i saw, they were eating powdered lemonade (spilled ont he counter by kids).  never seen anything like them.  they looked bigger after the ate the lemonade, but i killed them anyway.

[abell88]

Once in a while I find extremely tiny ants (I think) in the cupboard...or they actually made it into a jar of peanut butter last month (yuck!). They are way smaller than any other ants I've ever seen and kind of light brown. I'm afraid I didn't really notice which way they were running...I put down Ant killer (the liquid kind, I think it's borax + sugar) and they're gone.

[pianonut]

i'm scared, with my cat, to put down borax and sugar or one or the other.  but occasionally spray.  these are black, but similarly small.  haven't seen any bigger ones around.  interesting you have them, too.  maybe they ARE a new species?! 

[abell88]

My cats have never shown any interest in the ant bait...although they are fine mousers! You can buy enclosed ant traps, though, that a cat couldn't get into. I don't know if they're as effective as the drops.

[ted]

Yes, I see those tiny ants every so often here, Pianonut. They're not as common as the larger red or black ones but they're by no means rare. Actually the average house and garden is teeming with millions of different insects and spiders. Once you get into the habit of looking you see them all over the place.

Close to where I live there are many large triantelope spiders. They came with timber used in the construction of a grandstand at the local racecourse fifty years ago. They have never, for some reason not yet discovered, moved from the Auckland suburb of Avondale, but within that area they are very common. They are so common that we caught and exported hundreds of them to your country for use in the film "Arachnophobia". The ludicrous sight of people screaming at our harmless Avondale spiders spoiled the effect of the film for me - my son kept some in a fishbowl in the lounge when he was young.

[Siberian Husky]

i cant believe no one has answered this yet..anyways


they are flightless fruitfies..dont get thrown off by that biased name...now hold onto your seats..not all fruitflies...fly..one species alone may come in different sub-natures..just like..for instance..take an ant colony..there are sereval different kinds of ants..workers..and there are even subcatagories for these workers with diferent features to do different thing..salivating ants that mold..cutting ants..self explanatory..there are also fighting ants..yes most allspecies of ants come equipt with their own military....these fighters have huge (of course only by comparison to the average ant) pincers, a larger head and are build diferently..and an interesting fact..these soldier ants cant feed themselves due to their oversized pincer mouths..they rely on worker "lowerclass" ants to feed them..and there are actually a sub catagory of ants that are dedicated to this sole job...ants are very very intelligence creatures with an intricate communicating system and yes personality...next time you see a trail of ants..dont go straight for that Raid can..and seriously look closely..see what they carry..you'd be surprised as to how MUCH they can hold...


and watch this...if you see this trail..look closely and notice how every ant bumps into one another (going opposite directions)..they quickly exchange data through their antena about what they are collecting..food or materials...the quality of the material/food...they also exchange information about one another..kind of like how dogs sniff eachothers  genital area to gather information...also..take note of this..


ants carry their dead..some of you may have seen this once and maybe thought of some world war two movie where a member carries his teamate out of battle due to injury or death..well its kind of the other way around..you see..ants arent carrying thir injuried/deceased partner back to the nest..lol..they actually dispose of the dead ants outside the next..and studies show that they carry them quite a distance....sometimes up to 30 feet..its believed they do this to prevent fungal infection within the nest or near it...ants are neat freaks..perfectionists..and anal about their work/living quarters (they'd make great pianists lol).....



gah anyways..thats enough about ants..i didnt even get into fruit flies haha..maybe next time


cheers, your truly, the animal guru

Luis 'The Mexican' Chavez

[pianistimo]

flightless fruitflies.  ok.  i like that.  and, being that i know nothing about bugs other than the basics (kiss each other on the way to work) i learned many interesting facts from your discourse.  perfectionists, huh?  the fruitfly variety leave a mess wherever they go.  i think they are babies or teenager ants.