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You will find Argentine ants mostly in southern United States and in
California.
You won't find winged forms because mating usually is found in
the nest. Argentine ants are aggressive, often eliminating other types of ants
in the same area.
Argentine ants also destroy and eat other household pests such as cockroaches and exposed termites.
However, they prefer sweets and are often found tending aphids or scale insects on plants,
using them as source of honey dew.
Argentine ants' usual habitation is outside, but can present a problem
when they come inside foraging for food.
They rarely nest in walls of buildings, as the pharoah ant.
Argentine ants more often than not, enter to forage and then exit.
ARGENTINE ANTS - APPEARANCE:
The wingless worker ant (most commonly spotted),
is light to dark brown, about 1/12
to 1/8 inch long .
Argentine ants' antennae are strongly elbowed(12 segments) and there is a single node
in front of the abdomen(a waist).
Queens are 1/6 to 1/4 inch long.
ARGENTINE ANTS - REPRODUCTION AND LIFE CYCLE:
Argentine ants' eggs are white, laid in summer; larvae emerge after about 28 days.
The larval stage may be completed in from 11-60 days.
The pupal period may go to over 10-25 days.
Development from egg to adult usually takes about two months,
but it may be 4-5 months.
During the summer months, satellite nests are usually established close
to food sources and these satellite nests are highly mobile.
ARGENTINE ANTS - ANT TRAILS:
An excellent article(click on the PDF button-the top right corner of the document)by
Univ. of Florida Extension Service can be found at
.
It gives an overview of management with ant baits.
ARGENTINE ANTS - WHY ANT BAIT?
The use of residual
sprays or dusts will cause stress on the colonies,
causing them to split
into sub-colonies that scatter to other areas in the structure.
This is also called budding.
After spraying, your problem can be worse than at the beginning.
When you ant bait, you will want a slow acting bait.
Quick kill insecticides and baits will only kill the foraging ants,
not allowing the foraging ants to take the bait back home to feed the queen,
nest workers and brood.
If the current ant bait that you are using is not acceptable to the ants,
if they are not visiting the bait,
it is recommended that you change the baits.
Ants require carbohydrates - sugars, proteins and greases.
They find a variety of these sources in nature.
Examples are: other insects(proteins and greases), nectar, aphid honeydew,
plant products (sugar and carbohydrates)
Choosing an ant bait would require knowing what they are currently feeding off of,
according to the nutritional needs of the colony.
To be sure that you have all the baiting needs met,
you may want to be ready with a sugar-carbohydrate bait,
a grease-fat bait, and a protein based bait.
IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO REMOVE ANY OTHER FOOD COMPETITION WHEN ANT BAITING
AND LEAVE THE BAIT ALONE ONCE THE ANTS START FEEDING ON IT.
HABITS
Argentine ants can persist in conditions where
other ant species could not
survive.
They like to nest in moist soil next to buildings or under them.
They
can be found near sidewalks or plants.
They nest near water and food sources.
Foraging ants will enter the house when outside conditions
are extremely dry
or wet.
Colonies are large, often containing hundreds of queens.
The queens and larvae form will eat the protein / grease combination
almost exclusively,
while the workers will eat
the sugar based baits.
They are extremely mobile, will move colonies frequently.
