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If you live in the southern part of the U.S. chances are good you’ve come across fire ants at some point.  Most people in the southern states have actually been bitten by fire ants at least once; and it’s not something you quickly forget.  But fire ants are a fascinating species of insect.  That doesn’t necessarily mean you want to make them at home in your yard, but you might still be interested to know some facts about these amazing creatures:

1. Fire ants are not native to North America.  They were introduced to the U.S. in 1918 from South America.
2. The chances of fire ants spreading to the northern U.S. states is limited because the freezing soil during the winter months limits colonies from spreading in that direction.
3. The majority of the ants in a fire ant colony are female workers.
4. Fire ants are omnivores, eating both plant and animal matter.  They prefer high fat foods.
5. The workers that forage for food exit to the surface up to 25 feet away from the mound.
6. Adult ants cannot swallow solid food.  Instead, they carry it back to the mound and feed it to the larvae which digest it and regurgitate it up in a liquid form that is then shared by the adult ants.
7. It takes months for a colony to build up a mound large enough to be seen on the lawn. 
8. Fire ants can invade farm equipment and are actually responsible for more than $6 billion in losses from crop and equipment destruction each year.

As interesting as they are, fire ants can be dangerous to your pets and kids—at the very least causing pain and discomfort, and at worst causing death or permanent damage.  If you notice fire ants in your yard, call immediately to have our representative visit your home and assess the situation.

For a free inspection, give us a call at 888-675-0258 or go to http://www.accuracypluscalifornia.com/.

Tags: fire ants

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 9:10 am and is filed under ants. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.