Small red ant in the tropics

While traveling or just relaxing in warm countries, you probably encountered small red ants. They often live in premises (hotels, houses), and at first glance do not represent any trouble, but in fact their presence in your room can cause a lot of problems. But first, let's get acquainted with them:

Tropical red (or yellow, as usual) ants are much smaller than those that we are used to seeing in colder regions, their length is no more than 3 millimeters. They live in large colonies, and thrive in hotels and guest houses, especially where there is food. Very fond of sweets and fruits. It is easy to notice them, because even indoors they move along certain "routes". At the same time, it is useless to fight them yourself: no matter how much you press them, new ones come in their place after a while.

So what kind of problems can they be?

Small red ants are very "biting". When threatened, they bite through the skin and "inject" poison into the wound, as it is believed to be formic acid. The consequences appear in a few tens of seconds or minutes: the skin in this place begins to burn and itch. Even later, redness appears, which can grow to a spot with a diameter of 10 millimeters. Such spots can stay on the skin for up to a week. And especially itchy and spots appear in those who suffer from allergies.

Now imagine that you have settled in a room with a colony of "redheads". Despite the presence of "tracks" for them to move, they can crawl anywhere, including on beds. So their bites at night and a sleepless night are provided for you. It's even worse if the room has air conditioning or a fan pointing at your bed. Then these reptiles will be thrown directly at you through the air (we, the authors of the site, had such an experience).

But the biggest trouble redheads can deliver if they get to places with very delicate skin, for example, in the groin area. Squeezed by underwear, they begin to bite everything, and as a result, the thinnest and most delicate skin in a couple of days after the bites begins to literally disintegrate and crawl off, causing a lot of pain. It can take a week to heal.

Another nuisance from these reptiles-they settle almost everywhere, can be in your bags. Especially if you have any food in your suitcase, even an old candy, the ants will almost certainly make a small colony in your things, and can even fly home with you.

How to deal with them and what to do

In most hotels, red ants are fought and they do not form colonies there, and single Lost Ones do not pose any problems. But in the cheapest versions of guest houses or private houses, where the owners do not care much about cleanliness, the colonies can live in rooms, and this is a real problem that they cannot cope with on their own. It is best to raise the issue of changing the number in front of the owners, or ask at least to deal with the ants.

If you can not change the number and have to live with them for a while, try to follow the following rules:

• Bites are better to endure, not scratch. You can lubricate them with alcohol (strong alcohol), which has a calming effect.
• If possible, remove all food from suitcases and rooms.
• If you need to store food in the room, collect it in a bag and hang it.
• Check your bed and linen for ants before going to bed.
• Before leaving, check your belongings and suitcases, shake out all the insects.

Have a good trip, and fewer ants in the rooms!