You might be wondering whether fire ants eat termites because you want to feed termites to fire ant colonies or your house is on a termite problem. Do you think fire ants eat termites?
Fire ants do eat termites since termites are easy to swallow and provide a high level of protein which can help to produce more eggs and grow larvae quickly.
Even though fire ants can eat termites, the real-world scenario between ants and termites is a little complicated. I invite you to stay with me today. This article will guide you with all the information about fire ants eating termites.
Can Fire ants kill termites?
Fire ants are known to be aggressive, stingable, and biteable. But at the same time, fire ants are much smaller compared with termites. So, can fire ants kill termites?
Despiting the fact that fire ants are smaller than termites, fire ants can kill termites by stinging, biting, and releasing pheromones that are toxic to termites.
On the one hand, fire ants are originated to be aggressive and have the ability to sting the enemy with toxic chemicals.
On the other hand, termites have soft, delicate bodies compared to ants, which giving them less ability to tolerate attacking conditions.
Here’s an amazing fact.
Ants Canada has done an experiment with some ants that have never ever eaten a termite.
But once he put some flying termites into the colony the ants were not afraid to take down the termites one by one.
It has taught me that ants have the ability to kill and eat termites from their mother nature.
Also, termites are naturally adapted to live in underground mounds, or inside the woods they feed. Hence, they are living with the controlled conditions of temperature and humidity. On top of that, termites are really weak in the outer world, that’s why we have seen a single fire ant take over a large termite and sting and bite it to death.
Fire ants have a highly toxic venom on the edge of their abdomen, that they can inject into prey’s body. It will paralyze the prey, make it immobilize and slowly drive to death.
What do fire ants eat?
Fire ants were an imported ant species for the US in the past. However, fire ants had become an invasive insect and done significant damage to the flora and fauna, because of their ability to rely on both plants and animals as their food.
Fire ants can eat either plants or animals as their food, in fact, they are mainly concentrating on food sources that provide Carbohydrate, Protein, and Lipids.
Even though fire ants have a jaw that is somewhat stronger than other common species, they still prefer food in mild and liquid form. That’s why fire ants eat termites so often.
What are the prey fire ants eat other than termites?
I agree that termite is one of the favorite food of fire ants. Since the fire ant turned into an aggressive and invasive pest in the US, they have found that the fire ant is turning out as a threatening insect for various animals.
- Ticks
Some people saw this as a benefit because a tick invasion in a house can be more harmful than having a fire ant invasion. - Aphids
- Whiteflies
- Ladybugs
- Songbirds
There were several cases reported in the US that fire ants killed songbirds for meat. And that was the moment they took action to remove these fire ants from the areas that can be a threat to endemic species. - Chickens
I have a personal experience where a whole fire ant colony killed all of my chickens in one night.
Why do fire ants kill and eat termites?
Usually, in the animal kingdom, one animal kills another because of a food source or due to the competition for food.
Fire ants mainly kill or eat termites when they want to expand their nests and colonies over termites, and whenever they require Protein for their diet.
Termites are known to be the easiest way to get rich in protein for any kind of ants.
Fire ants are not likely to kill termites because of the resources of forages since termites are vegetarian.
Aggressive fire ants kill termites whenever they try to expand their colony over the limits of the ant colony.
Do ants eat termite larvae?
Ants eat termite larvae as well as the termite, in fact, ants prefer to suck the juicy ingredient on larvae which provides them a pure source of protein and Sugar.
Moreover, termite larvae can easily transported to their nests and also prevent the expansion of the termite colony subsequently.
In addition, because it is easy to rip out the fleshes from termite larvae I have observed that ants can easily feed them to ant larvae.
Do ants and termites live together?
You might have seen or heard about the fact that ants are living together with termites. But at the same time, you might wonder how could it be possible to live a prey and predator together.
Sometimes, ants build their nests close to each other with termites to ensure that they own a trump of food. As long as ants don’t need to consume termites or not being destructive by them both insects can be lived together.
There are several natural instances of ants and termites living together.
Here’s a one.
Carpenter ants choose wood and timber to establish their colony, considering they need moisture to lay their eggs.
At the same time, termites build their large colonies inside wood mainly because they can feed on it.
During the establishment phase of both colonies, ants and termites can be encountered thousands of times. But do you think those ants eat termites?
A big NO !
Food is not everything for ants, just like us.
However, the situation can be different after they have established the colonies.
Once the termites start to dig into the wood until it reach the ant colony, ants will find termites as a trouble. Hence, ants will kill or eat termites for the safety of their kingdom.
How do fire ants hunt termites?
Fire ants do not eat termites from the place they have encountered the prey. There are some strategies that fire ants follow, in order to hunt the termites. Let’s take a look at them.
- Troop attacks
Whenever fire ants need to be rich in Protien they will not hesitate to eat termites which they can find in the next mound. Therefore, fire ants send a troop of their soldiers into the termite colony and easily remove the guardian termites in the front. From there onwards, fire ants are too good for termite workers they are not genetically adapted to defend themselves from attacks. Then, fire ants sting and bite the termite to make them immobilize. Thereafter they rip them out into transportable pieces and carry them to the colony. - Ant colonies inside termite colonies
This is a smart tactic that is used by many ant species including fire ants. They establish small colonies inside termite mounds hunt termites and provide food for the ant colony. According to research, they use this before the winter season, in order to store more food sources in the colony.
Can fire ants destroy a termite colony?
A Termite colony is can substantial up to half a million to a million termites in a colony. A fire ant colony consists of 250,000 members on average.
A termite colony can be four times bigger than a fire ant colony. On top of that, a fire ant colony is hard to be destroyed by a fire ant colony.
The theory of the termite colony is expanding the colony by breeding the kings and queens. Surprisingly, termites tried to mate with their partners even when they were under the attack of ants.
Despiting there being more amounts termites that had fallen into the ant colony, ants were able to take down almost all of them.
However, this won’t affect the termites sensitively. Because it does not even contain 1% of the colony. In fact, it is a natural process that removes the weak members of the colony.
Do termites kill fire ants?
While the conflicts between fire ants and termites, termites can kill fire ants when they are trying to defend themselves.
Usually, fire ants cost 7% of soldiers in an attack between termites. Sometimes termites are ripping off the neck of the fire ant.
Do termites eat fire ants?
Termites do not eat fire ants due to the fact they are vegetarian even though they kill fire ants for their safety.