Prairie or Harvester Ants

​Recently I had an astonishing experience with some Harvester ants. I have been intrigued by the conical, volcanic mounds these ants construct ever since I came to the desert. When I moved into the casita one large mound sat across my driveway. Sometimes I would stop and visit with these very busy little creatures marveling over their industrious nature. Last spring when I planted a juniper not far from their mound I noted that the ants never attempted to bother me. Of course, I was respectful and careful not to disturb them.
 
We have lived here in peace until my recent return to Abiquiu. One day, without my knowledge, someone totally flattened the roof of their house. When I took my little Chihuahuas for a walk Lucy suddenly started screaming like a banshee. Frightened out of my wits I snatched her up and ran back into the house. My poor dog was in agony. Inspecting her foot, I discovered that she had been bitten by an ant. I instantly removed the ant who was curled up as if dead in a ball. Within minutes it was clear that something was very wrong with Lucy because she became ill. I frantically called my vet for assistance… when the Benadryl failed to work my vet told me that Lucy was allergic to this ant’s venom and if bitten again might die. Lucy was sick for days, and although she has recovered to some extent, she still favors the back leg where she was bitten. I continue to carry her out the door and down the driveway where she feels safe enough to go to the bathroom.
 
When I first approached the ant’s squashed house later that first afternoon these once peaceable ants attacked me viciously, but who could blame them? If my house was flattened I would be angry too. After donning my rubber boots I went back to the remains of the mound and asked them for forgiveness… I did this day after day, and by the fourth day the ants although wary, were no longer swarming around my feet, although some of them lined up in front of me as if ready for another unpleasant incident. I kept my daily monologue going until the ants realized that I meant them no harm, and now we are living once again in harmony. Unfortunately, Lucy is still afraid and remains at risk…
 
Naturally, I wanted to know more about these particular ants, especially with regard to our former peaceful co-existence. Researching, the first thing I learned was that  although they are larger than most species and have two of the most formidable weapons known among insects-large, pointed mandibles and most efficient stings-they are not quarrelsome, and fight only in self-defense. They are so peaceably inclined that other species of ants are allowed to come into their clearings and throw up their tiny crescent-shaped mounds of earth.
 
Sometimes the small ants attack and chase the mound-builders that pass by! Apparently Harvester ants carry this peaceful disposition to a point where they permit the common termite and some other species of ants to live with them in the chambers of their nests and to partake of their stored food. This information confirmed what I had learned from living with these creatures. They certainly weren’t out to get us. Poor Lucy was bitten by the ants by mistake in self defense.
 
These ants live throughout the Southwest in large colonies in gravel-covered mounds, each located in a cleared circular space. Beneath the beautiful humps are chambers and galleries that penetrate the earth as far down as ten feet. These chambers and galleries serve as store- rooms, nurseries, and workshops.
 
The ants cannot tolerate the presence of vegetation near their mounds, and the workers clear it away by use of their well-adapted mandibles. Plants probably get in their way and retain moisture after a rain, favoring the growth of destructive fungi. The ants cover the mound to a depth of from one-half to one inch with a layer of coarse particles selected from the surrounding detritus (including bits of turquoise I’ve heard people remark), making the slope steep. They also add soil that has been brought up from below.
 
In many of the mounds like mine the ants go and come through one opening, in others they have two or three such entrances. These gateways are usually located about one-third the way up from the base to the summit of the mound. They commonly face east, southeast or south.
 
At night, or on the approach of a rain-storm, the openings are closed by the workers. During the summer the ants begin to close them shortly before sunset and open them between eight and nine o'clock in the morning.
 
Except for an unbroken layer just beneath the gravelly surface, the whole mound is honeycombed with chambers and galleries. The nest has both sealed and unsealed storerooms filled with seeds.
 
Like many other ants these mound - builders have queens, males, and workers (sterile females). The workers dominate the colony and can number in the thousands. The workers are armed with stingers. The workers also gather seeds of various kinds and carry them into the nest. The hulls are torn off, carried out, and dumped at one side of the clearing, and the plump seeds are stored away in the underground granaries. These storerooms, packed with seeds of various kinds, may be found from an inch or two beneath the gravelly covering down to the lowest chambers, those beneath the frost line.
 
As I watch ‘my’ friends the ants patiently re –building their former home it is impossible not be impressed by these diligent animals who go about living their lives in such a peaceable manner. Perhaps we humans could learn something about generosity of spirit and communal living from our neighbors, the mound builders?
 

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