3 replies to this topic

[twistedmaskedant]

i have a question regarding some strange behaviors with ants in my garden

 

i have some ants in my garden as previously stated i don't remember the species name my friend identified them as

however i can describe them they are yellow and their movements seem randomish and they are willing to attack small animals but have no interest in my dogs also my friend said they aren't native to the state we live in and its dryer here than where they are native to

anyway things were drying up at the time and insects started vanishing so i felt bad and started feeding the ants some sugarwater, some honey, and some of the insects my friend raised as food for his pets (i got permission)

now here is the weirdness comes quite a long time after starting to feed the ants at very least 4 months i noticed they have started to follow me and they seem to have moved while i was away for a week into the center garden area (where i spend a lot of time working on some flowers technically they aren't flowers but whatever) at the time the flowers were producing something akin to sugar water so i assumed they moved for convenience but then i started thinking about it could they be following me seeing me as a source of food? so far they haven't harmed me so i tried testing something i went near the colony entrance and let them crawl on my hand i figured that they would see me as hostile and attack me but some just ignored me while others started to climb on me and ran around my hand and lower arm for a bit then went back to the colony they didn't harm me or anything so my question is why are they doing this i didn't think ants would behave this way i know that they can farm aphids and some of my plants so my questions are

 

why are different ants from the same colony acting different toward me?

why are they non-hostile towards me even near their nest?

what were the ants on my hand/lowerarm doing?

is it possible they see me as something that brings them food?

am i like seen as something like one of my food producing plants to them?

what would happen if i stopped feeding them? would they start being hostile?

any help would be appreciated

[AntsMaryland]

First off, for any possibly identification, we really need to know which state and pictures and roughly the size of the ants. Are there different sizes of the same ant? 

 

They are not following you. They are probably moving around because either the sun and different times of the day (warmth of where the sun is hitting) and different food sources are changing.

 

Depending on the species, some are hostile and others are not.

 

If you stopped feeding them they would act the same towards you.

 

Ant's are quite well programmed in the sense they behave particular ways. 

 

Maybe start taking videos and pictures of them and start a ant journal on your own observations?

 

Hope this was at least of some help.

 

Anymore questions?

 

-AntsMaryland

[LC3]

The description and the fact that you mentioned plus how they are supposedly not native, I would assume you are talking about Anoplolepis gracilipes (Yellow crazy ant) or Nylanderia fulva (Raspberry/Tawny crazy ant).  Both of which are notorious invasive ants. Photos would be a great help but at the very least give us your location (state/country)

 

Although I'm not sure how aggressive these two invasive ants are towards large animals, aggressivity of an ant species depends on the species. The same species may change how they behave depending on the environment. The behaviour they are displaying to your arm is normal ant behaviour, i.e ignoring it or exploring.

 

They are most likely moving to a more available food source or for any other number of reasons, it's impossible to tell. It's unlikely these ants can recognize you the same way a cat or dog does. At most they only realize that you aren't much of a threat. Any sudden movement though and you will most likely get a very different response. If you stop feeding them I doubt much would change.

Edited by LC3, March 4 2018 - 1:11 PM.

[twistedmaskedant]

The description and the fact that you mentioned plus how they are supposedly not native, I would assume you are talking about Anoplolepis gracilipes (Yellow crazy ant) or Nylanderia fulva (Raspberry/Tawny crazy ant).  Both of which are notorious invasive ants. Photos would be a great help but at the very least give us your location (state/country)

 

Although I'm not sure how aggressive these two invasive ants are towards large animals, aggressivity of an ant species depends on the species. The same species may change how they behave depending on the environment. The behaviour they are displaying to your arm is normal ant behaviour, i.e ignoring it or exploring.

 

They are most likely moving to a more available food source or for any other number of reasons, it's impossible to tell. It's unlikely these ants can recognize you the same way a cat or dog does. At most they only realize that you aren't much of a threat. Any sudden movement though and you will most likely get a very different response. If you stop feeding them I doubt much would change.

okay so i have identified the ants as the previously mentioned Anoplolepis gracilipes and thanks for the help