Ant v. Scorpion and questions

[The Snark]

Around here we have one particular variety of ant. Reddish brown in color, just slightly larger than the common black ants found all over the US.
These ants are nothing short of deadly omnivores. If you walk where they are without socks on you will get bit dozens of times. Stand on a trail of them and that goes into the hundreds These bites are extreme. A one second bite causes an hour of discomfort or more. They really pour the sauce into the wound.

Right now we have a lot of scorps out. Invariably some become road kills. Within a few minutes those ants find the corpse and within 24 hours, often as little as 2 or 3 hours, they will have the scorp gutted and the exoskeleton's connective tissue destroyed.

So what keeps these ants from attacking and killing live scorps and other invertebrates? Or do they do that on a regular basis and I'm just not seeing it?

 

[pannaking22]

I think ants attack other inverts pretty regularly, but it may not be as obvious since the ants are walking away with smaller pieces or they may just be catching smaller inverts. They may home in on the road kill victims though, since those are easy meals. Most inverts just try to avoid ants, especially those that forage in large groups.

Another possibility is that these ants are typically herbivorous, but take advantage of any easy prey items like road kill to add some protein to their diet.

 

[The Snark]

The ants in question are primarily carnivores and voracious. They attack our dog and cats. No exaggeration, the dog goes into a nervous decline come ant season and we have to come up with ways to protect the places he sleeps or simply encourage him to run wild and find safe places to rest. Last year on three occasions we heard him start yelping in the evening from ant attacks. It's frightening.

To give an idea how voracious the ants are, when we have termite swarms and have a thick carpet of termites covering the floor of the carport there won't be a single termite body left come dawn. Just a few straggler ants hauling the last of the feast off. I once estimated during a heavy termite season we had about 500 to 700 termites per square foot of floor. It's part of a very sophisticated checks and balances system in rain forest areas. If anything more than a minute fraction of the termites that bred got back below ground much of SE Asia would just be a giant termite mound. The ants are top flight evolved clean up professionals.


Speaking of which, during swarming season there is a tiny termite that guards their nests when they winged ones come out on the nuptials flights. Those little monsters I suspect would put bullet ants to shame bite wise. Even the hardy local Thai hunter-gatherers in the hills who casually raid red ants nests for the eggs... Well, they sit next to the termite nest holes when they are swarming with flashlight or candle, nearly always 2 people. One to grab the termites and one to protect him/her from those micro guardian termites. Their bite is like a red hot needle, worse than a rattlesnake bite.

 

[pannaking22]

Geez, that's intense! These definitely don't sound like ants (or termites) to mess with! I'm betting the ants aren't observed as often carting off invert parts because they rip the larger inverts apart before carrying them away and it sounds like they do it the most at night.

 

[The Snark]

And here come the rains. No longer safe to walk in the yard or any green forest or jungle area without socks and shoes. Can't even take the garbage to the compost pile or pick our veggies. Swarmed by ants. It'll be another 2 months before they start to move indoors.