Ants.  

Ubiquitous.  

Universal.

Unavoidable. 

Hard working.  

Invasive.  

Irritating.  

Various varieties.  

Pesky.  

Persistent.  

Difficult to eradicate.  

Have conquered the globe.  

Love 'em...hate 'em...they're here to stay.

In 47 years of glob trotting missionary living we've known leaf cutter ants, fire ants, large ants, small ants, indoor ants, outdoor ants, ants, ants, ants.   

Have been obliged to share space with small sugar ants these past twenty six years.  As ants go, they're not so bad.  In the early years we fought a fierce and ultimately loosing battle with them.  Eventually learned they serve an important function in our lives.  These miniature scavengers will devour dead insects in short order.  And any food that is accidentally dropped.    They are serious house cleaners.  We've learned to live in harmony with our ants.

Even though sugar ants have been known to bite, several times each and every day, they do no real harm.  They continually scamper over our cloths and exposed body parts on little ant legs.  Lightweight, we hardly know they are there.  That is, until they decide it's time to take a bite out of us.   While we almost never feel their feet, we always feel their bite.  Just a little sting.  Nothing serious.  No welts left behind.  No itching, scratching aftermath.  The tiny sting directs us to their precise location, where we quickly snuff out their life.  And return to living in harmony with their multitudinous relations.