Post ArQRPLIkInqcPh7c2K by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #ArCrxRFwXw6ZK5I5nE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T10:25:13Z
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Today's ant of the day is Solenopsis molesta, the thief ant. "Thief ant" is a more general common name that may cover other similar species all of whom are small and dig tunnels into the nests of larger ants to steal their larvae. Thief ants are primarily focused on obtaining protein and fat. They can become pests in human homes if grease isn't in a sealed container. They can sting, but their stinger is so tiny it is mostly ineffective on human skin. You must respect the hustle.
(DIR) Post #ArCsXGWjukDgTLEMpE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T10:31:41Z
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"What should I do to get rid of thief ants?"Clean up the grease they are enjoying. Why do you have a pile of grease laying around? They are just trying to help you by cleaning it up. You could try to poison them, but they are very crafty & probably smarter than you. Please remember ants are predators. In addition to annoying you by walking through your pantry they eat the eggs and young of the rest of the insects in your house. Your house belongs to the bugs, there is nothing you can do.
(DIR) Post #ArCsaZy85Qw7decdTk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T10:32:16Z
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Even ants can't "get rid" of thief ants.
(DIR) Post #ArCsywxgFfO3tp273g by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T10:36:41Z
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Take a moment to marvel at the complexity and perfection of a single thief ant. She is able to make a journey of dozens of meters over the most rough terrain with speed and efficiency. Could you cross a mountain range as effectively? No. You could not. She collects enough food not just for herself, but enough to raise many more ants back in their nest. She is nearly blind, but never gets lost. As an individual she is very weak, but larger insects will avoid these ants for a reason.
(DIR) Post #ArCu5EtUalo1CvdYMC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T10:48:59Z
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Like many Solenopsis, Solenopsis molesta has multiple queens. This isn't typical for ants in the wild and most species of ants have a single queen. But, species found in human environments tend to have multiple queens more often, I suspect since it makes it harder to destroy a colony. These ants are not very fast moving, they are methodical, sensitive and very numerous. They are sometimes confused with The pharaoh ant (Monomorium pharaonis) who move much more quickly.
(DIR) Post #ArCu638RnRTf1n1Cbo by david_chisnall@infosec.exchange
2025-02-17T10:49:04Z
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@futurebird Your house belongs to the bugs, there is nothing you can do.I am still hopeful about my plan to train the spiders to herd bombardier beetles.
(DIR) Post #ArCuVPHKbadewZGUhk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T10:53:45Z
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Ants found in association with humans are also less likely to be hostile to colonies of the same species, rather than fight, adjacent colonies may simply merge. (Pavement ants are a notable and conspicuous exception)Human environments tend to be absurdly rich in food to the point where finding food isn't the primary problem most colonies face. Finding water and shelter and avoiding human intervention become bigger factors in survival. Perhaps this is why intraspecies war is more rare.
(DIR) Post #ArCulVxLXtF0Hsb8ka by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T10:56:37Z
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The food richness of human environments is so extreme that when I'm in the park in NYC and want to attract ants, I never use sugar. NYC ants don't care about sugar. But they do get very excited about high quality insect protein. A crushed cricket or dubia will draw far more ants to observe than a bit of candy or even cake crumbs. Thief ants are even more picky. They will eat sugar, but their diet is more focused on fat, a food many ants will avoid. (insect protein is low fat generally)
(DIR) Post #ArCutjFhzjMrqE6UXQ by benni@social.tchncs.de
2025-02-17T10:58:06Z
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@futurebird a comforting thought, that we as a species bring peace to other species, even not to our self unfortunately.
(DIR) Post #ArCuxuBPISoutt5DI8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T10:58:52Z
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I have only been able to get the thief ants to show themselves by offering specifically larvae or solidified bacon fat. This brings them out, they are ubiquitous even if you never see them.
(DIR) Post #ArCv3AteaDuuBWI9WC by Madagascar_Sky@mastodon.social
2025-02-17T10:59:47Z
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@futurebird You're so fun, knowledgeable, kind and interesting. It's like you were genetically engineered to be liked by mastadonians.
(DIR) Post #ArCvMyTCUkPfR5MMm8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T11:03:23Z
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When people want to get rid of insects I encourage them to stop and ask "why?"It's true there are insects that can cause harm. But often the thing that has attracted the insects in large numbers is your real problem. Carpenter ants? You may have rotten wooden beams, dry rot, water leaks. They didn't cause these problems. They live in rotting wood. That's their job.Thief Ants? If they are conspicuous they have found unsealed grease and soon you will have rats too. 1/
(DIR) Post #ArCvjbxANT1MGJAblg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-17T11:07:29Z
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Fire Ants? Fire ants need sunlight & thrive on the disturbed margins of forests, they are not good at digging in soil with perennial plants, but love freshly plowed fields and lawns. In nature they are rare, but human "gardening" habits provide an ideal home for these ants.Odorous House Ants? Again they must have a source of fresh water and these ants love crumbs and sugar from poorly stored human foods.The unwanted ant arrives because we put up neon signs inviting them in. Then we get mad.
(DIR) Post #ArCvoSMjS3j3yTRGGe by whitneymcn@mastodon.xyz
2025-02-17T11:08:22Z
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@futurebird As always: thank you for sharing fascinating information in an entertaining way.
(DIR) Post #ArCwS4LaAg7P47n1SC by morebento@aus.social
2025-02-17T11:15:30Z
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@futurebird I’m in Adelaide South Australia and live near a large parkland. My friend finds dead rats, possums etc and drops them on some of the large ant nests then we watch them slowly stripped of all flesh to reveal a skeleton 💀 over a few weeks. Happy ants! Loving the ant posts, I did entomology at uni a million years ago
(DIR) Post #ArCxSMOdAHI0zwuzNw by toni@zug.network
2025-02-17T11:26:46Z
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@futurebird I do like the bugs in my house. Except for food moths. Has those two years in a row, but as of last year I have finally sealed all the carbs well enough. I hope. 🤞
(DIR) Post #ArD6J2hdujOitxRVtw by oblomov@sociale.network
2025-02-17T13:05:48Z
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@futurebird external threats over scarcity lead to a preference for cooperation over competition?
(DIR) Post #ArPscKcucpyxgp0qtk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-23T17:03:43Z
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@Szescstopni Aw! what a little lush. I hope you found a safe and reasonable solution.
(DIR) Post #ArPtz3pzJSgMEYWy4u by tofugolem@mastodon.social
2025-02-23T17:18:58Z
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@futurebird Don't we have some kind of insect apocalypse going on right now? That has to have serious environmental consequences.
(DIR) Post #ArPx6AliF2PRcTc7BQ by rubinjoni@mastodon.social
2025-02-23T17:53:52Z
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@futurebird Fire ants? You're living in a fire hazard. Thief ants? Public safety issues. Carpenter ants? Jesus...
(DIR) Post #ArQ2qcXfoOc2qj0xY8 by nazokiyoubinbou@urusai.social
2025-02-23T18:57:40Z
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@rubinjoni @futurebird I just want to point out that carpenter ants still haven't built one thing for me and I'm very disappointed in them.
(DIR) Post #ArQ2qdmbCO96hJ0OS8 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-23T18:58:27Z
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@nazokiyoubinbou @rubinjoni They need to complete the Environmental Impact study first OMG.
(DIR) Post #ArQ32j6LFbysfR0EiG by neia@fedi.ikeran.org
2025-02-23T18:58:25.000Z
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@rubinjoni@mastodon.social @futurebird@sauropods.win Don't worry, the carpenter ants are board certified! And they're union. Can't argue with unionization.
(DIR) Post #ArQ32jtGJj7379tIxs by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-23T19:00:39Z
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@neia @rubinjoni With the carpenter ants it's always "Local 123" or whatever but with Paratrechina longicornis it's more like "Loco 404"
(DIR) Post #ArQ4CxopUCJfAAFzl2 by rubinjoni@mastodon.social
2025-02-23T19:13:42Z
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@futurebird @neia Carpenter Ant Jesus >>> Shrimp Jesus
(DIR) Post #ArQPHAl5PuBxUSM1xY by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-23T23:09:45Z
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@futurebird Remember folks, you can't ever put down enough poison to kill all the insects, but you can easily put down enough to harm yourself and your family!
(DIR) Post #ArQPeVHhGfStoKjUXo by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-23T23:14:00Z
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@whknott Nothing is ominous in the same way as being in a garden in the middle of summer and not hearing or seeing a single insect. I was once at a restaurant next to a golf course in CT and looked all around on their patio, in their (boring basic) flower beds. I couldn't even find a springtail or mite. Sort of killed my appetite. What did they do to kill EVERYTHING like that? It was a mild day in June! It had rained recently...
(DIR) Post #ArQPhvfRdIQaVNTRzc by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-23T23:12:23Z
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@futurebird Had to take my puppy to the vet hospital once, because he walked around and licked all the roach baits off the base trim. He was having tremors when I brought him in. Had to get a transfusion and several bags of saline to flush him out. 🙄
(DIR) Post #ArQPiveXAmXSkVWbBI by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-23T23:14:42Z
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@futurebird Industrial fogger. So it was all over EVERTHING.
(DIR) Post #ArQQ7Vo8OxkhpbjmjI by a@beige.party
2025-02-23T23:19:11Z
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@futurebird @whknott That freaks me out like nothing else. ☹️
(DIR) Post #ArQQDxq55uyyVTizIW by chris_hayes@fosstodon.org
2025-02-23T23:20:20Z
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@futurebird @whknott sounds like CT
(DIR) Post #ArQRPLIkInqcPh7c2K by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-23T23:33:40Z
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@whknott And to anyone who thought "well but you don't understand I really don't like bugs" please think a little about what will happen as the poison wears off. It can't last forever. You blasted away every arthropod on your property and for a week maybe two you will see nothing, but by then the levels are low enough that the most hardy, most invasive, most persistent and fast multiplying bugs can move in. They get first dibs. So you have to do it again.And again.
(DIR) Post #ArQSATteABZAgIrLEG by davep@infosec.exchange
2025-02-23T23:42:05Z
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@futurebird @whknott Yep. You kill off all the pest predators, who obviously need a food supply befot they can start bringing some sort of equilibrium back.
(DIR) Post #ArQSXQXApa6yugHzGK by emeb@society.oftrolls.com
2025-02-23T23:46:16Z
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@futurebird @whknott Long ago we decided not to use chemical pest control on our suburban property. Most of our neighbors do, but we have good fences. Now we've got a happy herd of fence lizards that love to eat the bugs. The only measures we take are occasional termite control and sticky traps for the crickets. No regrets.
(DIR) Post #ArQSdHNTmr2sFjXs36 by Laplantgenetics@spore.social
2025-02-23T23:47:19Z
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@futurebird @whknott Plus you took away a major source of food for wild birds, who enjoy snacking on insects, as well as nesting material for those that need cobwebs for nest building (e.g. hummingbirds). So not only do you no longer hear the insects, but birds and their song also disappears.
(DIR) Post #ArQTOR7HOdTc4ESDke by jericevans@mastodon.online
2025-02-23T23:55:53Z
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@futurebird I lived for a time in El Paso Texas (desert), and there were SO many roaches. I spent some time laying down poison to little effect, added more, and more, and eventually saw results. Later I would find out that when I did so, my neighbors would see a huge influx (my roaches fleeing the toxic cloud), and respond with poison of their own. At some point I was actually winning this arms race though, and that's when the scorpions came. 1/@whknott
(DIR) Post #ArQTPm3x0J8BJwXEaO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-23T23:55:54Z
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@neckspike @whknott Over the years you'll need to increase the frequency, and keep switching to more exotic and strange applications as eventually a few of the most hardy pest insects will manage to survive having some ability to tolerate the poisons. They have many lives to spend on this project. They will adapt. You and I have but ONE.
(DIR) Post #ArQTWfnQhWE3ue65Fw by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-23T23:57:22Z
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@futurebird This. I tell my son, when he wants to put poison on fruit flies, "You know they use fruit flies to test evolution, right?"@neckspike
(DIR) Post #ArQTjWojObpXpTpsR6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-23T23:59:44Z
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@whknott @neckspike There are some golf courses that have been doing general spraying for decades and decades. I wonder what sort of creatures they have cultivated with this project? Might be "fun" to study.
(DIR) Post #ArQUnIe67wOuzQDy1w by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-24T00:08:13Z
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@neckspike @futurebird Bedbugs. I lived in a house with bedbugs once. 😬
(DIR) Post #ArQUnJjS5WHIMJjl0y by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-24T00:11:34Z
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@whknott @neckspike If you live in a dry place a steam cleaner is a good solution. And there is a reason beds are designed with posts and should be placed *not* touching walls, a lot of the problems in NYC about five years back were due to using beds with "new" designs. You can put a little dish of oil under each leg of a bed with four posts, steam it on a dry and and the problem is solved. Though I think most people figured it out.
(DIR) Post #ArQUyhzUEeb4mUfX1c by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-24T00:13:38Z
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@whknott @neckspike I'm the person everyone calls when they have a problem with an arthropod. I think my friends assume I know them all personally. But I'm happy to help if I can keep them from spraying.
(DIR) Post #ArQVRDK9Kg2u4GvU3M by whknott@mastodon.social
2025-02-24T00:18:49Z
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@futurebird Wait, you mean you're NOT on speaking terms with at least 17 species of ants??? I just assumed you were the diplomat of all the ants. It IS in your name after all.@neckspike
(DIR) Post #ArQVfpehc6od0NVgsC by Moss@beige.party
2025-02-24T00:21:25Z
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@futurebird @whknott @neckspike Golfzilla
(DIR) Post #ArQVhsnctaPnKpf6um by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-24T00:21:52Z
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@whknott @neckspike I sometime imagine an alternate life where I would run a "persuasive pest control service"Walking in wearing those white overalls and a little white hat saying "Listen Sarah, you can't keep nesting in the rafters like this. I know you THINK you only have exits to the garden and the people don't know you're up there, but you have 40 thousand daughters now and they can hear you *buzzing.* Can we at least please discuss the tree hollow option?"
(DIR) Post #ArQWFWKgvsjbVAASQK by ConspiracyOfCartographers@mastodon.social
2025-02-24T00:27:53Z
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@futurebird @whknott @neckspike There’s a scene in Six Feet Under where Lili Taylor tries to negotiate with ants.
(DIR) Post #ArQWVCwuler41BWhwu by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-24T00:30:41Z
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@Szescstopni It's winter where you are? Are they active like this in winter?
(DIR) Post #ArQWjx63zNFvCEpv6W by burnitdown@beige.party
2025-02-24T00:33:22Z
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@futurebird @whknott sprayed insecticide everywhere so nothing would touch their precious green lawns? i wouldn't want to eat there either.
(DIR) Post #ArQXGeY9xz8dEMZToe by burnitdown@beige.party
2025-02-24T00:39:18Z
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@futurebird @neckspike @whknott one person in my parents' neighbourhood used to cut up the entire lawn, roll it into sod, and put down new sod on top of sheep manure. every spring. the whole area is on limestone bedrock, so dandelions are always a bumper crop. but this is the kind of place where people fight dandelion growth so their crappy grass doesn't get crowded out.
(DIR) Post #ArQcQYCIwIfiCAt5Oq by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-24T01:37:05Z
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@Szescstopni Most of them should be dead. The original queen is dead, though there may be young queens lingering around. This is the lowest point of their population. Moving them in winter isn't practical. I think this is Vespa crabro which is in decline in some areas but nesting in a human house isn't sustainable. Since you are allergic you should have someone else help seal the nest so they can't get back in and start again in the spring.
(DIR) Post #ArQcfiEbu531fXCCUy by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-24T01:39:55Z
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@Szescstopni It's possible to move wasp nest started by new queens in the spring when they have just one layer. You can cut the nest off and hot glue it in a new location. Are you hearing noise from the nest now or seeing activity? Likely it's basically dead. Seal the hole and in spring keep an eye out for new queens on windows, and other similar wind and rain shielded locations where they can't make a buzzing football of hornets. Are there woods nearby? Hopefully some queen are there.
(DIR) Post #ArQclLDcOCck1WPpuC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-24T01:40:54Z
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@Szescstopni If they can't live in the rafters because it's not safe for you now is the most humane time to lock them out. It's a pretty plum location, warm, dry sheltered. They will return if they can find their way back in.
(DIR) Post #ArQdJljeJ8EO6poY6a by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-02-24T01:47:04Z
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@Szescstopni If the nest is active in winter that could be a bigger issue. You would need someone who has a big shop vac, and an apiarists suit. A nest that's managed to stay active in winter will boom in the spring. But, they can be removed without spraying. Sadly I don't know of any way to move them or I would obviously suggest it. That's more of a "there is a single queen on my window" move. Hoping they have cleared out and you'll just need to keep them from coming back.
(DIR) Post #ArREywKRWTPB8oWFxQ by leonerd@fosstodon.org
2025-02-24T08:49:07Z
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@futurebird @whknott @neckspike It puts me in mind of some of the extremophile species found exclusive in the now-ruined Chernobyl nuclear reactor