Ants Part II
Ants Part III
It's been quiet again on the ant front. I always take credit when the ants disappear, but now I realize it's because they stop being active around midnight (I've been researching again.)
Apparently ants take dead ones away to the trash heap to keep from cluttering up the hallways, or from bacteria/fungi forming, so I guess the dude I saw just happened to be a Janitor Ant. He decided the cat box was far enough away from where the other ants were working, and he'd done his duty.
God I'm gonna dream about ants tonight, I know it.
I've also learned that carpenter ant workers are females--female eunuchs. So these have been femdudes I've been killing.
I also need to take a closer look at their thoraxi to be really sure their carpenter ants. [Feels disrespectful as she checks dead body.] Yes, they are.
Bugs are so interesting. I wish we didn't have to fight. And I wish I wasn't squeamish about them. Being a bugologist is the only science job I could imagine being interested in. But then you end up having to be a forensic entomologist. (I know someone who got that far, and then realized he could not work with dead bodies. He works in publishing now.)
By the way, Medieval Days and Ways is a book, in case I didn't make that clear. My brother thought it was a wonderfully named bug spray.
5 comments:
Oh dear. If they really ARE carpenter ants, they're going to nest in your wooden furniture.
They did that in my desk at work, which no one wanted to let me toss because it had been John F Kennedy Jr's [John-John's] desk when he'd worked at the DA's office. But then sawdust began appearing all around my desk every morning ...
If that is what they are you MUST get rid of them fast or you'll be having to toss your wooden furniture shortly.
And I saw this as one who doesn't kill bugs at all if I can help it, which means close to never. Well, I didn't kill the ants in my desk, I had them take it and the ants away instead.
The landlord better get his butt in gear to get rid of them or he'll lose his whole building. You probably need to tell him - if you haven't already...? (Francy) ;-)
Time to call in Cousin Doug from Edmonton!! DadadaDumda da !!! (sound of cavalry aproaching) ..
And of course I almost spelled Calvary instead of Cavalry ... bad enough but I was viewing an actual video about The Indian Wars last month, and the talking heads kept talking about the US Calvary ... I had to stop and check the pronounciation in a dictionary to be sure I wasn't the one confused. It became very distracting to hear the mistake several times in the one documentary.
Anyway- no matter how it's pronounced - I can hear them riding in now to save you!!!
Oh yes, time to check on them! I was watching election results.
We've been having them for at least 5 years, I don't think they're in the building. We're right next to the lawn and the trees, so I think they live outside. Otherwise we'd occasionally see them in winter. But if I keep seeing them, then I'll tell them. Cause if the building is being munched on, then they need to know.
I'm not in my room a lot, but I didn't see ants when I checked. And the little pile of bodies I had left was gone.
In the past I just mercilessly killed for a few days, and then they disappeared. It's never become a problem beyond that.
It'd be funny to see them try to eat my desk, cause it's the pasteboard wood, yuck! Though the shelf is wood. But if they really needed a nest they'd either be outside, or in the building walls somewhere. There aren't enough of them, I know they haven't nested in my furniture. They're still scouting for food.
When scouting for a location to nest, it's later in the year, after they've mated. Then apparently you see a wingless queen moving along your walls, looking for a new home.
I think they are attracted by the smell of wet wood (implying wood rot? or moisture supply?) ... I smile at the image of a team of ants wheeling out a little wagon to collect that pile of dead bodies... "Bring out your dead!!" ..
Do they hold a funeral and mourn their dead back within the depths of the nest? Wouldn't surprise me... They're so darn organized and dedicated and intelligent, I too hate killing the little buggers.
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