About Fire Ants

The ants are popular for their painful sting which can cause an allergic reaction. Fire ants are found in tropical regions as well as temperate regions. The temperate regions where fire ants are found include North America. Central America and South America are some of the tropical regions where the ants are found.

Fire ants nest in indoor and outdoor environments. Their mounds are found in outdoor areas such as cemeteries, yards, and parks. They could also nest in athletic fields. The red imported fire ants enter indoor spaces during the colder months. Their preferred indoor nesting locations include underneath bathtubs and close to hot water heaters.

The southern fire ants prefer to nest outdoors, within loose soils. They may also nest in masonry or woodwork as well as under houses and stones and within cracks. When indoors, the southern fire ants nest in utility boxes and void spaces. The nests of fire ants are semi-permanent mounds with open craters for ventilation.

As hardy insects, fire ants can build mounds in any kind of environment. They also build mounds within buildings. The mounds can be as tall as 18 to 24 inches. Although they can survive in a wide range of environments, fire ants thrive best in open spaces and prefer to build their mounds in open spaces.

Fire ants are active foragers. They feed on different food materials including live and dead animals. As aggressive insects, they attack other insects and kill them for food. They also live off of sources of proteins and sweets. Such food sources attract them to invade new environments.

The ants communicate by sounds as well as secretions. Stridulation is the process by which ants communicate with sounds, making the sounds by hitting different body parts against themselves. The adult worker ants are known for their aggressive behavior. They sting when their mounds are disturbed. The young ants are not as aggressive as the adults. Thus, they play dead as part of their strategies of surviving attacks to their colonies.