Perry Ann Porter, Ants in Belize

Perry Ann Porter, 1960

BELIZE, 1986-89

All during our Peace Corps training, volunteers were told to watch out for Red Fire Ants. Fire ants build large tunnels in unsuspected areas, so we needed to watch where to step. Once bitten by these red devils, huge welts appear and sting for hours. If bitten more than once, these bites can cause trauma to the body, affecting breathing and shock to the system. Believe me, it is not fun to be bitten by iron jaws that seem to suddenly appear. We learned that there are over 280 species of ants, with aggressive behavior and that swarm when disturbed. Fire ants are extremely small, red of course, and have a cruel and vicious bite.

The locals in my village had a way of dealing with their discarded cans and trash. They dug a large pit and would just throw rubbish in and cover as you go. One day I heard yipping and yelling from a dog down in my pit. He had smelled something and climbed in to eat and was suddenly covered with red ants. I yelled and Benito came running. He reached down and pulled that dog up by the scuff of his neck. The pathetic creature ran, rolled, and rolled, yipping all the way down the road. I felt so sorry for that poor dog.

 After I was settled in my two-room thatched hut, my neighbors told me to be prepared for the ‘march of the army ants.’ They explained, “You can’t stop them; they travel in a large mass. Accept them, for they are welcome to travel through our homes. They eat everything in their way –  cockroaches, flies, insects and any other pests. They are the cleaners of our village.”

 Traditional Thatched Hut in Belize

 One night about 2 am I felt a flutter on my cheek, and then I felt movement in my hair and on my arm. I woke up with cockroaches escaping into the night. I saw my curtains alive with movement, swarming with big fat black ants, thousands of them. My casa was apparently in their path, but at the edge of their migration, so they marched through only one half of my small hut. I wrapped a quilt around me, perched on a stool and watched these huge aunts sweep through for about 2 hours. It was unbelievable to watch a thick carpet of black movement traveling through my home.

Finally I went back to bed and that morning everyone was outside talking about their experience. They were thrilled to have the ants visit, saying, “We are now a very clean village.” I lived in that village for over 3 years and experienced the army ants migration only two times. These paths can be miles long and about a ¼ mile wide. Water doesn’t deter them, for they can locate leaves to float across the streams or ponds. These enormous ants are quite ingenious in their creative thinking. 

The name army ants stems from horrific warriors rushing ahead in massive raids to search for food. They can be also be called “driver ants,” because they actually drive their prey ahead of them. 10,000 to a million soldier ants gather together in an organized raid pattern. They are experts in the art of war, attacking together. Their jaws pierce the skin and are capable of killing things vastly larger than themselves.  They have poor vision and have the ability to form images only during night and day. They detect smells and vibrations. There are over 130 species in the new world. Apparently there are many colors, from sandy tones to red, but the ones in my village were very black and about an inch in length.