Bullet Ant Bites, Facts, Habitat, Lifespan, Treatment, Get rid, Diet, Symptoms, Characteristics, and Solutions to get rid of Bullet Ants are given in brief.
Bullet Ant: Paraponera clavata
Bullet Ant is named so because of its extremely painful sting. This is considered as the most deadly ant among all ant species. These are commonly found in rainforests. You can get more details on Bullet ant sting, how they behave, how they look and some methods to get rid of them from below.
What Are Bullet Ants | |
| Bullet Ants are of class Insecta and members of Animalia kingdom. The scientific name of Bullet ant is Paraponera clavata. They are distributed along central and South America. They are most commonly found in wet areas like rainforests.
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Bullet Ant Characteristics | |
| Scientific Name | Paraponera clavata |
| Size | 18–30 mm |
| Max Age | Up to 90 days |
| Venom Type | Poneratoxin |
Bullet Ant Facts | |
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What Do Bullet Ant Look Like | |
| Bullet ants length varies from 18 to 30 cm. They are reddish black in color. Their Stinger and mandibles are so big that they are clearly visible. Queen ant is slightly larger than the workers. They are the wingless wasp. | |
Bullet Ant Bites | Bullet Ant Sting | |
Bullet ants are considered as Non-Aggressive in nature although they don’t hesitate stinging when provoked. When Bullet ant stings, it released a chemical which signals other ants to sting the subject again and again. Bullet ant sting is considered as the most painful sting. According to Schmidt Paid Index, Bullet Ant Sting gets 4+ rating. Below given image shows how Bullet ant venom works and product high degree of pain.
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Where Do Bullet Ant Live | |
| Bullet Ants loves to nest in wet areas and they are found in tropical rainforests. Mazor areas which include Bullet ant habitat are Honduras, Costa Rica, central and South America, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Brazil, and Bolivia. They establish colonies at the base of trees. | |
What Do Bullet Ants Eat | |
| It is the responsibility of worker ants to search for the food and most commonly they forge in trees. Bullet Ants love to feed to Nectar and small arthropods. They can eat most of the insects and also they feed on the plants.
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Bullet Ant Lifespan | |
| Bullet ants are known to live up to 90 days and queen ant may live up to a few years. Bullet ants collect nectar and feed it to the larvae. Queen and drone ant reproduce and grow the colony while workers ants fulfill the food requirements. | |
Bullet Ant Bite Treatment | |
| The first step should be removing the ants from the subject itself. Apply hydrocortisone cream and antihistamines tables to reduce the allergy. Apply ice on the affected area to reduce the swelling and recover from the tissue damage. If not treated, bullet ant pain may last for a day and then it will be healed by itself. | |
How To Get Rid Of Bullet Ant | |
Boiling water is your ultimate friend if you want to get rid of bullet ants. But boil 3-4 liter of tap water and pour it in the nest hole and bullet ants are done.
Buy some pipe tobacco and soak it in the water overnight. Now next morning make a tea like solution and pour it in the nest hole. | |
How To Kill Bullet Ants | |
Boric acid is deadly for ants and you can use sugar as the bait. Mix both sugar and boric acid and sprinkle around the nest or add some in the nest hole too. Ants will eat it because its sweet and they will eventually die.
Same as other methods, Mix vinegar in warm water and pour in the nest hole. All bullet ants will be killed. | |
This is what you need to know about Bullet ants as basics. If you want to get more details on other ant species them why don’t you check out them from here: Ant Species
Get more details on Insect Species