Table of Contents
What are crazy ants?
1. Appearance and size
The crazy ants are known for their distraught and distressed movement. These tiny insects are 2.2 to 3 mm in size. But their size doesn’t matter when it comes to their crazy behavior. These small creatures are named as crazy ants because they can cause shocks in electronic devices. These species are found worldwide and can be easily found in homes. These tiny insects are said to be the oldest species of ants, and they are also said to be the most ancient species existed even when dinosaurs existed. Crazy ants have 12 segments with an elongated body. These tiny creatures are known for their highly distinct appearance, and small size that makes them invisible. They can quickly attack dead or living insects, fruits and plants.
2. Behavior, diet, and habits
Crazy ants are the types of insects which live on every diet. These small insects are omnivorous, nourishing on dead and live insects, honey, organic products, plant emissions, seeds and many other things. Crazy ants are exceptionally flexible, residing in both wet and dry living spaces. Crazy ants settle in spoiled wood, soil, the cavities of trees and plants, waste and under rocks and structures. These ants can’t survive cold atmospheres and may plague houses and structures when the climate changes. Crazy ants are little in a population containing 1,500 to 2,500.
3. Reproduction and lifecycle
For the reproducing process, crazy ants have a total of 1 to 40 queens that are very fertile, and they form different colonies in a short period. These creatures like to travel long distances and produce new offspring where the new ones can easily survive, where there are food and eco-friendly environment. The queens can produce offspring more in the cold seasons when they use homes and dog sheds as their habitat. These tiny insects can live up to 40 to 65 days. The queen can live for months. The queen lays 200 to 1000 eggs daily.
4. Habitat and distribution
They prefer to live in warmth and moist areas. Crazy ants cannot live in dry areas for an extended time. These tiny ants also prefer warmness and cannot survive cold or winter and can bury themselves in their habitat to get themselves safe from coldness.
Why people call them crazy ants
1. Different names and the reasons
People know these insects by the names of Crazy, Rasberry, Tawny ants. Crazy ants appear to be attracted to electronic gadgets — auto stereos, circuit boxes, hardware. In any case, with crazy acts, such many will stream inside a device that they shape a solitary, squirming mass that finishes a circuit and shorts it. The crazy ants can bite, and their bite can be very painful, but the Rasberry ants do not eat. These tiny creatures like to live away from people and animals and enjoy the sweet nectar of plants and fruits and can live on it for their whole life span. Crazy ants are extremely sensitive.
2. Domino effect on crazy ants
Domino effect on crazy ant’s states that after 10 to 15 years there could be a time where there would be no life of these species of insects because of the changing environment and the reduction in their habitats. Many species in the world have become endangered, and it can cause harm to the other species also. The trees are the home of the ants, but due to some insect’s chemical secretions, the trees can get die which gets the species of crazy ants endangered. This is the concept that is explained by scientists on the Dominos effect on crazy ants.
3. Crazy ant infestation
Crazy ants can cause annoyance and disturbance to the people, and they can also bite people and animals. People cannot enjoy in their yards quickly. The parents must take great care of their children because of the infestation characteristic of crazy ants. These tiny ants can also attack to defend themselves and release chemical substances that can be harmful and their bite is also painful than can cause irritation and pain for hours. You can feel their powerful bite inside your skin, and they do not quickly leave the skin while biting. These small creatures can attack small insects and animals to high populations, and their bites can cause small animals death. It’s very necessary to take care of the livestock to prevent crazy ants biting them and releasing chemical substances inside them that can create infections.
How to kill crazy ants fast?
1. Locate their entry points by making honey and butter bait
The best thing to get rid of these ants is by making a paste of butter and honey. The honey and butter should be a mix of equal quantity and applied to the points where you think they can enter homes or garden areas. These tiny creatures use small holes in the doors, windows, and walls to enter the homes to high populations especially in winters. Crazy ants can find a good spot in the house where they can increase their population. The paste helps to suffocate the ants and make them stay away from the house. Mostly people use this technique as it is simple and do not costs the expenses of insecticides that are also harmful to the environment and can be easily used.
2. Locate their nest by following the trail
You can see them walking on a path; you just need to find the nest because this is where these ants hide and produce the offspring. It is necessary to emit the nests to stop their growth in your house or anywhere. This is a significant step to locate their trails. Their path can show you their strength and what kind of way you can use to kill them. Mainly the chemical substances are used to hunt them down.
3. Drench their nests with insecticide spray/poison
After you have found their nests use insecticides spray to fill the poisonous gas or spray inside the nest that will kill all the crazy ants. These tiny creatures will leave the place and try to run away that will make sure you about their absence in the house which is a good sign. We listed the best ant poisons and sprays in this post, feel free to check it out.
Crazy ant control
1. Eliminate food and water sources
To control them, it is necessary to remove their food and water sources, which will ultimately make sure the death of the ants because they cannot survive without food and moisture. Removing the diet and water sources like if you know, the habitat of crazy ants remove the pants and do not water them for 2 to 4 days that will eventually kill the crazy ants.
2. Block points of entry into the home
You need to block the entrance of the crazy ants so they cannot enter the homes. Crazy ants use small holes in the doors, windows, and walls to enter the homes to significant populations especially in winters. These little species can find a good spot in the house where they can increase their population. So, use cotton or any cloth that should be filled with insecticides that can block the entrance of the ants or suffocate them where they are hiding. You can also spray on these kinds of areas to make sure your house or garden is safe for the family and kids.
3. Use the Texas Two-Step
This is two step method that consists of bait and then the chemical or the other treatments you will use to kill them. The bait can be any fruits, vegetables or any insects that can be favorite among the ants. The ants will get attracted and try to take the bait inside their habitat so that everyone can feed on it. This is the time when you see large populations coming out of their holes in search of food. Now you just need to choose the way of killing them. You can use the chemical sprays that will kill the crazy ants. You can also use a spray than can be put into the small holes where the ants live, to kill them.
Crazy ant’s fun facts
Crazy ants do not consider humans as their enemies but can bite them to defend themselves.
- Crazy ants can kill ants from other colonies.
- There are also said to be wars between different colonies ants where the adults fight, and the ant winner will get their hand on the habitat, queen, eggs and food of the losing ants. This is mainly a myth that the scientists are still studying.
- Crazy ants also have slave workers in ants.
- The army of ants has a high population that protects the colonies of ants from the other ones. Their number can reach up to 750,000 in a single colony.
- These tiny creatures can lift more substantial food and leaves than even their size.
- The ants can live under water for a day in non-eco-friendly circumstances.
- Crazy ants have more brain cells than any single human.
- These species are more intelligent than humans.
- These tiny insects are also able to swim and float in the water.
- The queen of the crazy ants has long life span because she is responsible for the fertility and nourishment of its eggs.