Electric Fire Ants
MYSTERY BITES
When I first arrived in Costa Rica I wasted no time in looking for a low tree branch, monkey bars, random playground equipment or a metal carpet beater that could be used as a crude pull-up bar. Luckily (or not so luckily) I found a great big Mango tree right outside my accommodation. A small branch extended slightly overhead, too low to be of a perfect height but high and wide enough to serve the purpose – I would just have to bend my knees a bit to keep myself off the ground.
But a strange thing would happen – after each workout the skin of my upper body turned red and a painful, and a nagging sensation pulsed through the affected areas for half an hour, sometimes longer. The red blotches were several centimeters wide with a very rough oval shape.
This was not limited to the mango tree workouts – similar issue started to arise after brushing against certain plants around the property. Thinking it must be a reaction to a plant toxin or some kind of irritation I tried my best to ignore the strange red blotches, pain and itching. Yet the problem relentlessly persisted.
ELECTRIC FIRE ANTS
The mystery was solved on a hot day when, covered in sweat from the afternoon sun I decided to bust out a set of push-ups to failure. I walked to the outside patio shirtless and completed the pushups, hitting the floor with exhaustion. I stood up and almost immediately experienced the familiar pain. Looking down at my torso, everything became clear: dozens of tiny ants, nearly invisible, were stuck to my skin – and I could see they were stinging me. I brushed them off and, as happens, my skin turned red with the familiar blotches. The culprit has been identified!
I walked to the Mango tree and, unsurprising, noticed that the tiny ants were using my pullup branch as a highway. Hundreds could be seen walking across the branch in opposite directions – so every time I used the branch to exercise, I was knocking dozens of them right onto my body. Luckily, there is a second branch right beside the infected one and it is clear of ants – so this became my new pullup station.
A quick internet search identified the culprit – going by a few names, such as Little Fire Ant, Little Electric Ant, Electric Ant, or Little Electric Fire Ant, these critters have a bad reputation! They belong to the wasmannia auropunctata species, are only between 1 and 2 millimetres in length, and their light brown colouring helps them blend into their environment. They are native to south and central America but have been spreading across the world as introduced pests. Their name is well-deserved as the ants deliver a powerful sting (compared to their tiny size) – they also seem to bite in packs which exacerbates the issue. The pain is said to last for hours but from my experience it fades away after about 30 minutes, though can be felt on-and-off for many hours especially in the case of multiple bites. Another theory for the name relates to the fact that these ants are attracted to electric fields, and if an ant is shocked with electricity it releases chemical signals that attract nearby ants to the area – this is proved via scientific experiments and the ants’ habit of clogging up electrically operated gates – the ants get shocked, attract more ants, and create a pile of shocked critters that block and interfere with the operation of the electrical equipment. I found evidence of this in our bodega as I unplugged the water heater to be presented with a pile of dozens of ant bodies clogging the grounding hole.
Later I would learn, the hard way, that these ants fall into the pool but don’t die – they chill out on the surface skin of the water and will bite any person who takes a dip without first inspecting the surface. Experience taught me that running the pool filter after spraying the surface of the pool with a garden hose (to break up the surface tension of the water and send the critters off to ant hell) does a good job, though there will always be a few strugglers only too eager to deliver a sting.
The Electric Fire Ants live under rocks and leaf litter – they do not build traditional underground colonies like other ant species. They can also take refuge in homes, wardrobes, carpeting, and other indoor areas, so be on the lookout! While not dangerous to humans the ants are suspected to cause blindness in cats, dogs and other mammals including cows and horses – a condition called ‘Florida Keratopathy’.
Their dead bodies collect in big brown heaps around walls and corners, but there always seems to be more and more of them around. I am hoping the upcoming wet season will flush them out! But for now we learn to live with them and take a few small precautions to minimize the damage (I still get bitten under the Mango tree, but the new branch reduced the bites from a few dozen to a random bite or two).
We live in the jungle, and the jungle is full of creatures. The macaws, monkeys, toucans, brilliant butterflies and colorful tree frogs share the forests with the kinds of creatures we would like to forget, like these little stinging ants. But the balance of nature must be understood and every animal has a role to play. The ants can be a nuisance, but their presence does make our life interesting! Life in the jungle is full of natural wonder – if you would like to experience it first-hand, it all starts with an email or phone call to RE/MAX We Sell Paradise – or maybe you want to start by browsing our library of hundreds of hot area properties?
