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Red Imported Fire Ants
- Size
- 2mm to 7mm (1/12th of an inch to 1/4 of an inch)
- Color
- Reddish Brown with darker rear end
- Locations
- Southeastern and Southern States
- Eating Preferences
- Honeydew
- Sweets
- Proteins
- Oils
- Seeds
- Plants
- Insects
- Teeth
- Stinger
- Queen
- Queens can grow up to 1/2 inch long
- Usually a single queen in a colony
- Multiple queens per colony do happen though
- Nests
- Mounds that range from a few inches to several feet across
- When disturbed many ants rush out of the nest and attack aggressively
- Red Imported Fire Ants also like to nest in electrical junction boxes, electric appliances, air conditioners and bath traps
- Mounds are rarely if ever found in swamplands or dense forest areas
- Propagation
- Mostly - Winged male and female ants swarm and start new colonies (typically in late Spring and early Summer)
- Also sometimes - Queens leave the main colony and setup a new colony with an army of workers
- Foraging
- Even though an area might contain many hundreds of colonies, each colony has its own foraging trails.
- Be sure to bait each and every one you find to reach as many colonies as possible.
- Predators
- Benefits
- Imported Red Fire Ants like to feed on flea larvae and many insects that cause damage to plantlife, e.g. aphids
- How to Kill
- Use Maxforce Granular Bait
- Track down and bait every trail you can find
- Sprinkle bait around nesting sites - but not directly onto the nest
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