Minibeasts

Sham S. Misri

Animals have not to be big to be beastly. There are many small animals, particularly insects that are killers. Some of them such as ants are predators that hunt to eat. Others, such as locusts, cause destruction that affects humans. 

Ants

Ants are found almost everywhere, except in water. Most ants are harmless to humans, but army ants and driver ants turn tropical forests and woodlands into battlefields. The stings of army ants contain chemicals that dissolve flesh. Once their prey has turned to liquid, the ants can begin to drink it. Millions of army ants live in a single group, or colony. They hunt together, swarming through leaf litter and attacking anything in their way. 

Driver ants have large jaws that can slice easily through food. They hunt in large numbers and swarm through forests hunting for prey. Driver ants can kill large animals, such as cows, by biting them to death. They have also been known to bite to strip a chicken down to its skeleton in less than a day.

Deadly plagues of locusts have been written about for thousands of years. When they search for food, they travel in swarms of millions, eating all the plants they encounter. This can leave humans without any food. 

Killer Bees

Killer bees fiercely protect their hive by swarming around it. They will attack anything that approaches the nest. 

Killer bees are new type of bees that was created by a scientist. He was hoping to breed bees that made lots of honey, but the bees proved to be extremely aggressive. Killer bees swarm in large numbers and huge groups, when one bee stings, the others quickly join in. One sting is not deadly, but lots of bee stings can kill    a human. It is thought that about 1000 people have been killed by these mini beasts.

"Killer bees", are a hybrid of the Western honey bee species, (Apis mellifera), with various European honey bees such as the Italian bee.