Argentine Ants

How to Identify Argentine Ants

Argentine ants are very small, dark, slender ants. These ants are usually found in large colonies which they can form in loose leaf litter, wall voids, cracks in concrete, and under stones or other debris resting on the ground.

Habits

Like the tawny crazy ant, argentine ants are an invasive species of ant from South America. These ants are extraordinary invaders of new habitats, mostly due to their ability to form super colonies. This means that argentine ant colonies don’t compete with each other for territory or food, and travel freely between colonies, eventually merging into very large super colonies. This can drive away all other ant species from an area, causing the argentine super colony to continue growing. In fact, a global super colony of argentine ants exists in California, Europe, and Asia. When brought together, argentine ants from these three regions immediately form colonies, with no aggression between them.

Control
Argentine ants are very difficult to control, especially when given time to grow into large colonies due to the high number of queens present in the colonies. As with other ants, a baiting regiment is the most effective way to control argentine ants. Although, because of their large colony size, baiting treatments may have to be in place for several months to ensure the ants are under control.