Fire Ants of Cental America

Ever since coming to Central America, I have discovered these little critters. They look innocent enough, just plain ol' ants, right? You see them everywhere in the world. You tend to ignore them.

Wrong. These little guys have jaws of steel. They bite, and run off with a chunk of your flesh for a fast food take-away. People here call them fire ants. No kidding.

I had no idea there were so many hundreds of different kinds of ants. All shapes and sizes and colors. They even have different kinds of legs, bodies, and eyes. Kind of like humans I guess. I know a few people that have a stinging personality. Nice eyes, though.

I've seen some Leaf Cutter ants here in Central America. They are fascinating to watch as they demolish a plant into pieces and tote it off through the jungle to their home. They seem to have a purpose. Go out and work and bring home the bacon so to speak.

I'm sure the fire ants must have a purpose. I just haven't discovered it yet. But I do admit to committing "ant-icide" more times than I can count. And I get a certain amount of pleasure in swatting the little things into another ant life somewhere. Bug spray also brings tremendous satisfaction.