Physical Appearance- Fire ants are reddish brown to black in color.
- Fire ants are about 1/8 inch long.
- Worker Fire ants are small, dark in color, variable in size, aggressive, and sting persistently.
- Even in the largest of workers, the head width of a fire ant never exceeds the width of its abdomen.
Behavior
Colonies tend to migrate fairly regularly from one nesting site to another. It just takes one "queen" and two to three "workers" to begin a new colony, and they may establish a new nest less than one hundred feet away from their initial location seemingly overnight. Heavy rainfall, flooding, or other disturbances are some causes for relocation. The colony can also migrate indoors.
Habitat
While Fire ant nests and colonies will thrive in almost any kind of soil, Fire ants actually prefer open and sunny areas, such as parks, pastures, meadows, and lawns. Fire ant nests are most often found in and around rotting logs, stumps, and trees, but may also be found in or under buildings.
Feeding Habits
Fire ants will forage for many types of food including dead insects and animals, sweet and sugary foods, proteins, grease, and plant secretions. If necessary, Fire ants will even go so far as to kill insects and small animals in order to feed. Fire ants will travel as far as 100 yards from their nest to forage for food.
Life Cycle
The time it takes for a Fire ant to mature from egg to adult averages 30 days. Worker Fire ants can live up to 180 days, while the queens can live as long as 2 to 6 years.
Damage
Fire ants have been known to be aggressive when disturbed, attacking people, plants, and animals. In humans, the sting of a Fire ant can cause irritation, nausea, or in rare cases, more severe reactions requiring hospitalization. Fire ants can also cause damage to buildings, homes, wires, and air-conditioning units.
Basic Fire Ant Control
When it comes to Fire ants, it is important to kill the "queen" ant. Once the queen is killed, the colony will have no chance of relocating. Baiting is an effective method for Fire ant control because it allows foraging ants to feed the queen. Maxforce Fire Ant Bait is excellent, professional-strength bait that is very effective in eliminating fire ants.
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