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Biting & Stinging Ants in the Rainforest

It is important to know what to watch out for when visiting the rain forest in South America. In the rain forest, many different types of biting or pinching ants exist. When an ant bites, depending upon the species, it will either spit venom on the bite or sting the victim with their tail. Neither action is lethal to a human unless the victim is allergic to ant venom or a swarm of ants attacks.

  1. Azteca Ovaticeps

    • The Azteca ovaticeps is often confused with its smaller cousin the Azteca alfari due to the dorsal section having the same shaped sections. This type of ant bites with its irregularly shaped mandibles and spits venom on the bite. This ant is mostly calm and docile. They live in trees in the rain forest and will only attack if the tree, which their presence usually has destroyed or damaged, is disturbed, exposing the nest.

    Pheidole Tristis

    • The Pheidole tristis is an aggressive ant that has large square pincers used to hold onto the victim while it stings with its tail. Even though ants are not lethal unless the human victim is allergic to insect venom, this ant, at an average length of 1 inch, can cause a large cut when pinching with the mandibles. This type of ant lives in ant hills, not trees, and forages on the ground.

    Acanthoponera Minor

    • The Acanthoponera minor is a very small ant -- an average of 5 millimeters. It has even mandibles with an angled bite so small it could not harm a human. They are calm and do not attack unless provoked. The observations made conclude that the queens and worker ants forage for food, most likely fruits as they were found by guava trees and in fields. These ants are nocturnal and not a threat.

    Acanthognathus Ocellatus

    • The Acanthognathus ocellatus, is a very small ant -- an average of one-eighth of an inch long. It has pincers that are half the size of their body. The pincers are lethal to smaller arthropods but not large enough to injure a human past a small irritation. As this ant has pincers and not mandibles for attacking its prey, it has a stinger on its tail which it uses to immobilize the prey.

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