• I propose to study caste-specific gene expression in the fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, with a large ( and gt;20,000 clones) spotted cDNA microarray that was recently developed, sequenced, and annotated at the prospective host institute, the group of Prof. L. Keller at the University of Lausanne. (europa.eu)
  • S. invicta is the second social insect species (after the honeybee) and the first ant species for which a large microarray has become available. (europa.eu)
  • In chapter II, I tested the prediction that tropical/sub-tropical fire ants (S. invicta and S. geminata) will have lower cuticular permeability values and tolerate higher levels of desiccation (i.e., greater %total body water loss) than temperate fire ants (S. richteri and S. invicta × S. richteri). (auburn.edu)
  • This study compared the water relations of temperate and tropical/sub-tropical fire ant workers across different latitudes in southern USA and is the first report of cuticular permeability (CP) and desiccation tolerance of S. invicta × S. richteri hybrid workers. (auburn.edu)
  • The data supported my hypothesis, as CP value of live workers of a temperate fire ant species, S. richteri is significantly greater than that of a tropical species, S. invicta. (auburn.edu)
  • Solenopsis invicta and S. geminata seem to be xeric while S. richteri and S. invicta × S. richteri are more of mesic ants. (auburn.edu)
  • In the olfactometer bioassays, both P. curvatus and P. obtusus exhibited stronger attraction to cis + trans venom alkaloids of imported S. invicta and S. richteri fire ants over those of native fire ants. (auburn.edu)
  • S. invicta is omnivorous and foraging fire ants may be found in or on plants because they are preying on phytophagous arthropods associated with. (cabi.org)
  • The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta , is a problematic invasive species in China since at least 2003. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • We describe the ecological impacts of S. invicta on various habitats in South China, including arthropod community structure disruption and decreases in diversity and abundance of native ant species. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • S. invicta can replace the role of native ants in mutualisms between ants and honeydew-producing Hemiptera, which results in loss of important food resources for native ants and natural enemies of hemipterans. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Disturbance of ant community structure in Central Texas by the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Excretion of phosphoric acid by red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). (chinaagrisci.com)
  • The restoration of arthropods diversity in different habitat after the regression of red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren). (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Monogynous and polygynous red imported fire ants, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), in Taiwan. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Effect of the mutualism between Solenopsis invicta (Hymmenoptera: Formicidae) and Phenacoccus solenopsis Tinsley (Hemiptera: Pseudococcidae) on Aenasius bambawalei Hayat and Echinothrips americanus. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Interference competition between the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta Buren) and two native ant species (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Influence of Solenopsis invicta (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) invasion on insect pests and natural enemies of dry-land corps. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Genetic transformation of midgut bacteria from the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta). (tamu.edu)
  • In our previous study we isolated 10 bacterial species from fourth-instar larval midguts of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta. (tamu.edu)
  • Generally studied for their regulatory potential in model insects, relatively little is known about their immunoregulatory functions in different castes of eusocial insects, including Solenopsis invicta, a notoriously invasive insect pest. (researchgate.net)
  • Simple Summary The red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) is a highly invasive pest that causes significant damage to human health, agriculture, and biodiversity. (researchgate.net)
  • A 27-year-old woman suffered from anaphylaxis after being stung by Solenopsis invicta ants while she was handling wood from South America. (jiaci.org)
  • A second and by far the most damaging species, Solenopsis invicta, known as the red imported fire ant, arrived in Mobile sometime in the late 1920s or early 1930s, probably also in ship ballast. (angelfire.com)
  • It is darker and less aggressive than the related red imported fire ant ( Solenopsis invicta ). (encyclopediaofalabama.org)
  • That's why researchers believe the virus has potential as a viable biopesticide to control fire ants, known to scientists as Solenopsis invicta. (sott.net)
  • The Red Imported Fire Ant (Solenopsis invicta) is one of many native. (controlsolutionsinc.com)
  • The red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta Buren (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), is a common turfgrass insect pest in Louisiana. (lsuagcenter.com)
  • There are several species, but Solenopsis invicta predominates and is responsible for an increasing number of allergic reactions. (msdmanuals.com)
  • Biotic and abiotic factors impact the adaptations of Solenopsis fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the southeastern United States. (auburn.edu)
  • Most stinging insects are of the order Hymenoptera, which is made up of multiple families, including 3 that are clinically important: Apidae (bees), Vespidae (wasps), and Formicidae (ants). (medscape.com)
  • Effectiveness of fenoxycarb for control of red imported fire ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). (usda.gov)
  • Competitive displacement of Paratrechina longicornis (Latreille) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) from baits by fire ants in Mato Grosso, Brazil. (usda.gov)
  • Abundance of the parasitic ant Solenopsis daguerrei (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in South America, a potential candidate for the biological control of the red imported fire ants in the United States. (usda.gov)
  • Effect of the microsporidium Thelohania solenopsae (Microsporida: Thelohaniidae) on the longevity and survival of Solenopsis richteri (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the laboratory. (usda.gov)
  • Attempts to artificially propagate the fire ant parasite Solenopsis daguerrei (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Argentina. (usda.gov)
  • Field studies of the parasitic ant Solenopsis daguerrei (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) on fire ants in Argentina. (usda.gov)
  • New host for the parasitic ant Solenopsis daguerrei (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Argentina. (usda.gov)
  • Seasonal studies of an isolated red imported fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) population in eastern Tennessee. (usda.gov)
  • Prevalence, spread, and effects of the microsporidium Thelohania solenopsae released into populations with different social forms of the red imported fire ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). (usda.gov)
  • Avermectin B1a: Effects on the ovaries of red imported fire ant queens (Hymenoptera: Formicidae). (usda.gov)
  • Putting The Ant In Antibiotic Among the most promising bugs to look for drugs are eusocial insects, especially in the order Hymenoptera - bees, wasps and ants. (discovermagazine.com)
  • FACTS: Although there are more than 10,000 species of ants, red fire ants comprise some of the more vicious varieties. (giantmicrobes.com)
  • This study investigated the physiology and chemical ecology of some native and introduced Solenopsis fire ant species in relation to some aspects of their adaptations to biotic and abiotic factors in the southeastern United States. (auburn.edu)
  • In chapter I, I introduced the topic and discussed pertinent literature on physiology and chemical ecology of Solenopsis species of fire ants in the southeastern United States, identified specific aspects of their adaptations to biotic and abiotic factors that could limit their survival and distribution, and provided rationale for the current study. (auburn.edu)
  • Results showed that the DGC was pronouncedly expressed in the alate caste (irrespective of temperature) in all tested Solenopsis species. (auburn.edu)
  • This may be explained by the hygric genesis hypothesis that if the DGC was primarily a mechanism for conserving respiratory water, it would be preferentially expressed in the species and castes subject to more desiccating conditions, and alates are exposed to desiccating environments, especially during season of fire ant mating flights. (auburn.edu)
  • Altogether, the DGC seems to influence the adaptation of these Solenopsis species of fire ants in the southeastern USA. (auburn.edu)
  • In chapter IV, I hypothesized that certain compounds in the venom alkaloid profiles of fire ant species mediate preference in their hosts, Pseudacteon phorid flies (Diptera: Phoridae) for imported versus native fire ants. (auburn.edu)
  • Results from the behavioral experiments provide evidence for the involvement of venom alkaloids in mediating host preference of Pseudacteon species between native and imported Solenopsis fire ants. (auburn.edu)
  • In contrast, native ant species' workers are uniform in size . (extension.org)
  • If you notice small, tiny ants , those are a different species as well. (florida-environmental.com)
  • When inhabiting a non-native environment, this colonizing species can disrupt the ecosystem in several ways, from changing the pH and drainage of the soil to affecting the mutual relationships that exist between native ants and other species- and of course by the intensity of their sting! (tamaraclark.com)
  • Fire ants are several species of ants in the genus Solenopsis, which includes over 200 species. (wikipedia.org)
  • Many of the names shared by this genus are often used interchangeably to refer to other species of ant, such as the term red ant, mostly because of their similar coloration despite not being in the genus Solenopsis. (wikipedia.org)
  • Fire ants of those species invasive in the United States can be distinguished from other ants locally present by their copper brown head and thorax with a darker abdomen. (wikipedia.org)
  • Fire ants are more aggressive than most native species, so have pushed many species away from their local habitat. (wikipedia.org)
  • One such species that Solenopsis ants parasitically take advantage of are bees, such as Euglossa imperialis, a nonsocial orchid bee species, from which the ants enter the cells from below the nest and rob the cell's contents. (wikipedia.org)
  • Fire ants have been known to form mutualistic relationships with several species of Lycaenidae and Riodinidae butterflies. (wikipedia.org)
  • The Invasive Species Council is calling on the Federal government to put their money on the table to achieve full eradication of fire ants in Australia as the latest fire ants nest was found just five-and-a-half kilometers from the NSW border at Tallebudgera. (echo.net.au)
  • Here we report the genetic transformation and reintroduction of three species (Kluyvera cryocrescens, Serratia marcescens, and isolate 38) into the fire ant host. (tamu.edu)
  • We investigated the ability of the tropical social wasp Polybia occidentalis to recognize local species of scouting-and-recruiting ants by their odor. (bioone.org)
  • Following contact with these ants, however, some of the individuals responded defensively to the odor of these ant species, showing that wasps can learn the odor of ants. (bioone.org)
  • They've spread into Mediterranean and subtropical climates across the globe in sugar shipments from Argentina, and no native ant species has been known to withstand their onslaught -- until now. (sciencedaily.com)
  • A group of Stanford University undergraduate students working on a class project have discovered that a native species, the plucky winter ant, has been using chemical warfare to combat the Argentine tide. (sciencedaily.com)
  • This is the first well-documented case where a native species is successfully resisting the Argentine ant," said Deborah M. Gordon, a biology professor at Stanford who specializes in studying ants and taught the three-week summer class in which the students first saw the winter ants wielding their poison. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Some native ant species that eat seeds have coevolved with certain native grasses and other plants to become a crucial part of the plant's propagation by carrying the seeds to new areas. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Without the native ant species to spread their seeds, the grasses can't flourish. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Fire ants are originally from South America, where dozens of fire ant species exist. (angelfire.com)
  • The black imported fire ant ( Solenopsis richteri ) is one of two invasive South American stinging ant species in the Solenopsis ("pipe-faced") ant family. (encyclopediaofalabama.org)
  • In the second part, using data from a few species of four ant subfamilies (Myrmicinae, Formicinae, Ponerinae and Dorylinae) on the intensity of reaction to a crushed conspecific on the trail, it is shown that intensity of disturbance appears to be correlated not with taxonomic position but with the degree of mutual attraction or interaction at an individual level present in each species. (bvsalud.org)
  • Though they originated in South America, fire ants have natural predators in their native lands which tend to keep them in line. (giantmicrobes.com)
  • Red Imported Fire Ants made their way from South America in the 1930s, as a stowaway in a cargo ship. (florida-environmental.com)
  • The red imported fire ant is native to South America but can now be found in many southern US states, from Florida to California. (tamaraclark.com)
  • Field host range of the fire ant pathogens Thelohania solenopsae (Microsporida: Thelohaniidae) and Vairimorpha invictae (Microsporida: Burenellidae) in South America. (usda.gov)
  • The patient had probably been stung previously although inadvertently by red fire ants while she handled infested wood from South America, and precautionary measures are thus advisable when this material is to be handled. (jiaci.org)
  • With no natural predators to keep them in check, fire ants have spread across the U.S., where their numbers are now 10 times greater than in their native South America. (sott.net)
  • The first was the black imported fire ant, Solenopsis richteri, which was likely brought from Argentina in ship ballast to Mobile, Alabama, in 1918. (angelfire.com)
  • Argentine ants have been declared agricultural pests in California because of the damage they do to citrus crops. (sciencedaily.com)
  • The stinger is used to inject a venom that produces most of the distinct pain associated with fire ant stings. (myrmecos.net)
  • Stings from fire ants are very painful and form pustules. (echo.net.au)
  • Immobilized or elderly patients can become rapidly covered by swarms of these ants, resulting in severe stings and even death (See Fire Ant Bites ). (medscape.com)
  • Multiple fire ant stings indoors. (usda.gov)
  • Anaphylaxis Caused by Imported Red Fire Ant Stings in M laga, Spain. (jiaci.org)
  • To our knowledge this is the first case of anaphylaxis from red fire ant stings reported in Europe. (jiaci.org)
  • Not only for the sheer number of ants in each mound, but the fact that individual ants can administer several stings like a wasp. (angelfire.com)
  • The ant bites to anchor itself to the person and stings repeatedly as it rotates its body in an arc around the bite, producing a characteristic central bite partially encircled by a reddened sting line. (msdmanuals.com)
  • Societies of ants, bees, and wasps achieve a highly efficient division of labour by matching the morphology, physiology, life-history, and behaviour of each female to her role in the colony. (europa.eu)
  • Karen B. London and Robert L. Jeanne "Wasps Learn to Recognize the Odor of Local Ants," Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society 78(2), 134-141, (1 April 2005). (bioone.org)
  • Fire ant baits are a cheap, effective way to control fire ants. (florida-environmental.com)
  • See Extension Publication 2429, Control Fire Ants in Your Yard, for more detailed information on controlling fire ants. (msucares.com)
  • The agency is now seeking commercial partners to develop the virus into a pesticide to control fire ants. (sott.net)
  • The bodies of mature fire ants, like the bodies of all typical mature insects, are divided into three sections: the head, the thorax, and the abdomen, with three pairs of legs and a pair of antennae. (wikipedia.org)
  • A typical fire ant colony produces large mounds in open areas, and feeds mostly on young plants, insects and seeds. (wikipedia.org)
  • Luckily there's Fertilome Come And Get It II Fire Ant Killer to combat these pest insects. (arbico-organics.com)
  • The winter ants -- named for their unusual ability to function in cold weather, rather than grind to a halt like most insects -- manufacture a poison in a gland in their abdomen that they dispense when under extreme duress. (sciencedaily.com)
  • This suggests that CP plays a role in the distribution patterns of invasive ants, and adaptation to the climate of their abundant location. (auburn.edu)
  • Invasive ants-are fire ants drivers of biodiversity loss? (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Why do fire ant mounds pop up after a rain? (extension.org)
  • Why do fire ants build mounds? (extension.org)
  • Fire ants use mounds to regulate temperature and moisture conditions in the colony . (extension.org)
  • After using fire ant bait, drench the mounds with an insecticide. (florida-environmental.com)
  • This is the most convenient way to kill individual fire ant mounds. (msucares.com)
  • Puncture the mounds and then saturate them, using 1/2 gallon of either full strength or diluted solution (3 parts of water to 1 part Orange Guard Fire Ant Control). (arbico-organics.com)
  • We followed the directions very specifically and had wonderful results with killing several large fire ant mounds that came up after the last big rain. (arbico-organics.com)
  • As they spread, the number of mounds, each containing several hundred thousand stinging ants, reaches densities of up to 1,000/acre. (angelfire.com)
  • Fire ants do not injure turfgrass, but they do build unsightly mounds on the turfgrass surface. (lsuagcenter.com)
  • Flying ants are the male and female reproductives (alates) from the fire ant colony. (extension.org)
  • After mating, the female reproductive becomes a new queen and will establish a new fire ant colony. (extension.org)
  • If you've spotted a fire ant colony on your property (or worse, in your kitchen) , act quickly. (florida-environmental.com)
  • Instead, spread it around the area where the worker fire ants are most likely to find it and take it back to the rest of the colony. (florida-environmental.com)
  • Fire ants dig tunnels efficiently using about 30% of the population of the colony, thereby avoiding congestion in tunnels. (wikipedia.org)
  • We further demonstrated that the engineered bacteria could be spread within the colony by feeding this meconium to naive larvae with the aid of worker fire ants. (tamu.edu)
  • Ants find this spinosad-based bait very appealing - so much so, that they will take it back into their mound to share with the rest of the colony - including their queen. (arbico-organics.com)
  • Ants start dying in 24-36 hours with mound or colony destruction in 3-14 days. (arbico-organics.com)
  • To kill a fire ant colony, you have to kill the queen , and these methods just didn't do that. (angelfire.com)
  • Although it occurs naturally in fire ants, the virus needs a stressor before it becomes deadly and begins replicating within a colony, Valles said. (sott.net)
  • Crash The Colony and Kill The Queen Fire Ants are a serious pest throughout the Southern United States. (controlsolutionsinc.com)
  • A single colony can exceed 100,000 ants. (lsuagcenter.com)
  • Worker ants vary in size and assume responsibility for the colony by building the mound and gathering food. (lsuagcenter.com)
  • These aspects include desiccation tolerance, use of volatiles emitted by the ants as host location cues, and the interspecific variation in venom alkaloid components in queen fire ants. (auburn.edu)
  • Colonies of red fire ants can have as many as half a million residents, and when the ants go on the march to forage for food, they can kill small animals. (giantmicrobes.com)
  • How deep are fire ant colonies? (extension.org)
  • Fire ant colonies are spreading since they prefer warm and dry environments. (florida-environmental.com)
  • They do not hibernate, but can survive cold conditions, although this is costly to fire ant populations as observed during several winters in Tennessee, where 80 to 90% of colonies died due to several consecutive days of extremely low temperatures. (wikipedia.org)
  • The virus was found in about 20 percent of fire ant fields, where it appears to cause the slow death of infected colonies. (sott.net)
  • The massive fire ant colonies destroy crops, damage farm and electrical equipment and hasten soil erosion. (sott.net)
  • Natural occurrence and laboratory studies of the fire ant pathogen Vairimorpha invictae (Microsporida: Burenellidae) in Argentina. (usda.gov)
  • rochai or Solenopsis geminata did not respond to the odors of these ants. (bioone.org)
  • Ants' attraction to the baits is incomparable to any other method of treatment. (florida-environmental.com)
  • You can use baits here, as long as you don't put them directly in the ant trail. (florida-environmental.com)
  • Baits are "fire ant-edible" granules containing low doses of slow-acting insecticides or insect growth-disruptors that are applied by spreading them over the lawn. (msucares.com)
  • Use a combination of granular baits and dry mound treatments to knock fire ants out of your yard with a one-two punch. (msucares.com)
  • Development of toxic baits for control of imported fire ants, pp. 133-143. (usda.gov)
  • Integrating the virus into ant baits could offer a tool to the pest-control industry, agricultural producers and harvesters, consumers and others for whom fire ants are a persistent problem. (sott.net)
  • Broadcast a granular fire ant bait over your lawn three to four times a year: around Easter, around Independence Day and around Labor Day, and you won't have many fire ants in your lawn. (msucares.com)
  • Field trials with AC-217,300 a new amidinohydrazone bait toxicant for control of the red imported fire ant. (usda.gov)
  • If you disturb a fire ant mound, you'll see hundreds come swarming out in defense of the queen, ready to sting. (florida-environmental.com)
  • Pouring the liquid fire ant killer down inside the mound helps to ensure the queen will die. (florida-environmental.com)
  • Foraging fire ant workers collect these granules and carry them back to the mound to feed to the young. (msucares.com)
  • Drench a mound with an appropriate rate of permethrin, bifenthrin or other labeled product and all ants contacted by the drench will die quickly. (msucares.com)
  • Ant mound influence on vegetation and soils in a semiarid mountain ecosystem. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • University sophomores studying ants in a summer course discovered that the local ants were using poison to kill invading Argentine ants. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Forager ants have two stomachs and consume only a portion of what they find - they carry the rest back to the nest for delectable regurgitation. (giantmicrobes.com)
  • Why do fire ants nest next to trees? (extension.org)
  • In an established nest these different sizes of ants are all present at the same time. (wikipedia.org)
  • Fire ants bring the larvae back to the nest, and protect them through the pupal stage in exchange for feeding on the fluid. (wikipedia.org)
  • We were looking at the nest openings of the winter ants and one day it was just winter ants going about their business foraging for food and making trails -- just typical ant behavior," said Leah Kuritzky, a student in the class and one of the coauthors of the PLoS ONE paper. (sciencedaily.com)
  • The worker ants are blackish to reddish and their size varies from 2 to 6 mm (0.079 to 0.236 in). (wikipedia.org)
  • She lays a brood of eggs and cares for them until they mature into worker ants. (lsuagcenter.com)
  • Each clump had as many as 100,000 individual ants, which formed a temporary structure until finding a new permanent home. (wikipedia.org)
  • Both Myrmica rubra and Pogonomyrmex barbatus are common examples of non-Solenopsis ants being termed red ants. (wikipedia.org)
  • Fire ants are well known for the ferocity of their defensive behavior. (myrmecos.net)
  • Ants so clumped, recognize different fluid flow conditions and adapt their behavior accordingly to preserve the raft's stability. (wikipedia.org)
  • At a variety of locations on the Stanford campus, they started out simply observing and recording ant behavior while visiting each site at the same time every day. (sciencedaily.com)
  • ants one causes marked changes in the behavior of the remaining ants when they come near the dead conspecific which may be called panic reactions (detour, going back, waving march, jolt and disorientation) and which represent disturbances or a disorganization of the prevailing behavior in the trail (Cunha, 1967). (bvsalud.org)
  • By means of several experiments, we hope ants on a trail of Paratrechina (Nylanderia) fulva to have demonstrated that these reactions are a Mayr ants, one usually causes marked changes result of a discrepancy between the situation the in the behavior of the remaining ants, when they ants were used to and this same situation as they come near the killed companions. (bvsalud.org)
  • Consequences of the Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr), invasion on pollination of Euphorbia characias (L.) (Euphorbiaceae). (chinaagrisci.com)
  • Qualitative analysis of red imported fire ant nests constructed in silica gel. (chinaagrisci.com)
  • With the dry summer coming it is an excellent opportunity to be baiting and spraying nests, conducting surveillance a controlling the fire ants. (echo.net.au)
  • Simple nests for culturing imported fire ants. (usda.gov)
  • Two host phorid flies, P. curvatus and P. obtusus, were tested for their preference to cis- and trans- fractions of fire ant venom alkaloids in behavioral bioassays. (auburn.edu)
  • Among them is the small phorid fly, which seeks out fire ants and lays its eggs on them. (sott.net)
  • Adult fire ants' bodies are reddish brown with a black posterior. (lsuagcenter.com)
  • When fire ants swarm, they often position themselves on their victim and sting simultaneously in response to an alarm pheromone released by one or several individuals. (medscape.com)
  • Since their introduction into the southern United States in the 1920s, imported fire ants anchor themselves with their mandibles and subsequently inflict a sting. (medscape.com)
  • If you've ever been stung by a fire ant, those statistics will make you shudder. (angelfire.com)
  • People exhibiting these symptoms after being stung by fire ants should get medical attention immediately. (angelfire.com)
  • Fire ants workers release an alarm pheromone if they recognize another ant as a non-nestmate or if they encounter some other disturbance . (extension.org)
  • Fire ant workers are polymorphic , which means that their workers can vary in size from 1/16 to almost 1/4 inch long. (extension.org)
  • Sprays kill exposed ants on contact and then move into the soil to provide residual control of foraging workers and newly settled queens. (msucares.com)
  • In Eurybia elvina, fire ants were observed to frequently construct soil shelters over later instars of larvae on inflorescences on which the larvae are found. (wikipedia.org)
  • The transformed bacteria were successfully reintroduced into fire ant larvae and survived in the fire ant gut for at least 7 days. (tamu.edu)
  • Argentine ants are taking over the world -- or at least the nice temperate parts. (sciencedaily.com)
  • One tiny drop applied to an Argentine ant is enough to put an end to it. (sciencedaily.com)
  • The Argentine ants are happy anyplace that has cool, rainy winters and hot, dry summers. (sciencedaily.com)
  • If you live in a Mediterranean climate, the Argentine ant is the ant in your kitchen," Gordon said. (sciencedaily.com)
  • That yummy honeydew is what brings the Argentine invaders and the winter ants into conflict, as winter ants also tend aphids. (sciencedaily.com)
  • Fire ants use trees as nesting places because little or no soil disturbance or mowing occurs around trees. (extension.org)