Attack of the Killer Ants

Last night we saw a few of these mega ants in the backyard. Naturally, we ran, cursing our reasoning for coming … Jesus, look at the size of these beasts we thought, piranhas of the ant world, ready to take a bite of juicy European flesh and leave nasty venom. How were we to know they were toys for the kids, silly us!

In May, these cuties literally drop from the sky, near the start of the rainy season. Known locally as 'Sanpopos', there were hundreds in the streets in the morning. I was woken up by little Lester who had proudly filled an empty bottle full of these and couldn´t wait to show me. I kept a distance and controlling my revulsion said 'No' in a convincing way. Lester stopped in his tracks, bewildered and dumbfounded, his expression said, 'but hombre I collected them especially for you gringo.'

Now seeing these ants was pretty shocking and some of them have wings too, nightmare! One of the kids had somehow attached a piece of string to one of the winged variety and made a sort of insect kite. After confirming with adults that these did not bite, spit or maim I decided it was time to overcome my insect fears. Little Ruth in the photo passed me a couple of these and I let them crawl over my hands … this was a big step. But wait for more updates on flying insects, these are tame!!!