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Title: Biology/Flora and Fauna/Animalia/Arthropoda/Insecta/Hymenoptera/Ants - Argentine Ants Why Argentine Ants invade homes in Southern California.
Argentine_Ants Information about Linepithema humile, one of the world's most invasive ant species, in New Zealand.

Australian_Ants_Online Guide to the Australian ant fauna. Biology, species list, identification keys, and descriptions.

Behavior_of_ants Facts concerning ant trails and foraging behavior.

Brisbane_Ants Pictures and information on these insects in Brisbane, Australia.

Carpenter_Ants This University of Kentucky site offers detailed information about behavior and physiology of the common carpenter ant.

Carpenter_Ants Detailed guidelines about dealing with carpenter ants in the home.


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Argentine Ants Wayne's WordIndexNoteworthy PlantsTriviaLemnaceaeBiology 101BotanySearch Volume 4 (Number 3) Fall 1995

This WAYNE'S WORD Is Dedicated To Our Insect Visitors From South America:

The "Argentine Ants"

Why Argentine Ants Invade Houses In Southern California? How To Protect Your Home Without Damaging Your Body. How To Fight These 6-Legged Warriors In Your Backyard. How Are Argentine Ants Like The "Borg" In Star Trek? Will Argentine Ants Try To Assimilate You And Your Home?       Is It Futile To Resist Their Persistent Assimilation? Argentine Ant (Iridomyrmex humilis). Beware Of The Argentine Invasion The most common ant in southern California is the Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis). It is a small, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes in search of food and water. They are especially fond of sweets, but will feed on practically any food. They love the yolks of hard boiled eggs and carry minute yellow clumps of yolk back to their nest in endless ant columns. These ants are extremely well adapted to urbanized areas of the United States with mild climates and well-watered gardens. They pose a serious threat to native wildlife by upsetting delicate food webs. They are especially formidable due to their aggressive behavior and the enormous size of their colonies which can literally "team up" with other colonies. If you live in southern California, you probably have seen endless single file columns of uninvited six-legged guests walking through your home. They follow a pre-marked pheromone "scent" trail initially laid down by scouts who were searching for goodies in your pantry. Although they prefer the outdoor life style, they primarily enter houses for food and water. They are fond of sweets, tuna, syrups (even cough syrup), juices, eggs, dead spiders and rodents, vomit, feces and just about any other organic matter they can find. They are essentially scavengers and they play a valuable role in the natural ecosystem--but preferably in Argentina. In hot, dry weather they often search your home for water, including bathroom faucets and drains. I once followed an ant safari into my bathroom where they were neatly stacking their precious cargo of tiny eggs inside my toilet tank. They also relish the "honeydew" secretion of aphids, and protect their aphid friends from natural predators. In the fall months as the nights get chilly, they once again seek the warmth and shelter of your cozy home. The first Argentine ants set foot on U.S. soils in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their cargo in New Orleans. Being prolific breeders and constantly on the go, they moved across the southern half of the United States. A single colony may contain 10,000 female workers, and there may be hundreds of colonies around your home; the total number of ants could easily reach a million. Although they cannot sting, they can bite; however, they are only about 3 mm long and there tiny mandibles are too small to hurt humans. But, in the world of insects, these ants are truly a living terror. They are very aggressive and readily overtake other ant species, even ants that are much larger and with powerful stings. Argentine ants are relentless and simply outnumber their adversaries until the enemy colony is destroyed. They even attack paper wasp nests under the eaves of a house, forcing the huge wasps to flee their nests in terror. Even nests of large carpenter bees are no match for these relentless ants. A "killer bee" nest probably could not withstand an invasion of Argentine ants. They also will attack bird nests, driving off the mother bird and killing the helpless young. One possible redeeming quality about these little warriors is that they may attack dry-wood (aerial) termite colonies in your home. I have observed this Lilliputian massacre in a termite infested table in the Palomar College greenhouse. Most ant colonies are very territorial, and will fight different colonies of the same species. Since Argentine ants in the United States originated from the original colonizers in Louisiana, they are all closely related with very similar DNA. They apparently will accept ants from different colonies as members of their gigantic family. In fact, Argentine ants from different colonies will actually "team up" and attack together in vast swarms. They simply outnumber and overpower their enemy. Argentine ants have become a serious threat to the coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) in southern California. The primary food source for these endangered lizards are native harvester ants, particularly the California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus). I spent many years observing this fascinating red ant while growing up in San Gabriel Valley, and I can personally testify that it has a painful sting. As of 2006, this large red ant is seldom seen in urbanized areas of coastal southern California. California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus), primary diet of coast horned lizard. Urbanization has certainly been a factor in the demise of California harvester ants, but an even greater factor resulting in the elimination of native ants and coast horned lizards is the aggressive Argentine ant. Apparently the horned lizard is not fond of Argentine ants, and is actually attacked by them in enormous swarms. Colonies of Argentine ants need a damp area to survive, and have not invaded some of the dry habitats where native harvester ants and desert horned lizards (P. platyrhinos) still live. Of course, they can readily colonize urbanized desert areas inhabited by people. Well-watered gardens with stepping stones and concrete slabs provide the idea living requirements for these ants. In their native Argentina they live under rocks. Coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum). Argentine ants are a terrible nuisance in gardens and orchards because they tend and protect scale insects and aphids. They even carry aphids to the tender buds of your prized roses. In return, the ants consume a sweet secretion from the aphids called "honeydew." In addition, swarms of these ants will invade orchard trees, destroying the fruit crop. This is especially serious in figs (Ficus carica) where the symbiotic pollinator wasps are destroyed. Metallic green fig beetles (Cotinus texana) gorging themselves inside a fleshy, ripe syconium of the Calimyrna fig (Ficus carica). Although masses of minute, aggressive Argentine ants (Iridomyrmex humilis) are also foraging in the syconium (white arrow), the beetles are protected by their tough, impervious exoskeleton. These attractive beetles spend their juvenile larval stage in the ground, often beneath manure piles, compost and haystacks. According to entomologist David Faulkner, if you have a 10 x10 foot (3 x 3 m ) patio slab, you could have a million or more individuals and possibly 20 or 30 queens. They get along fine because they're all related to the original colonizers in Lousiana, perhaps from the original pregnant female who arrived there. Workers live a month or more as s, but queens live up to 10 years or more. With other ants, when the queen dies, the one-queen colony dies because no more ants are being produced. With multi-queen Argentine ants, another queen simply moves in and takes over the role of the deceased queen. In fact, a queen from San Diego would probably be accepted in a colony elsewhere in California. In their native homeland of Argentina, different colonies of Argentine ants are not so friendly to each other because their DNA has developed much greater variation. Neighboring colonies may fight each other, even though they are only 200 yards (200 m) apart. Also there are many native predators in Argentina, including fungal parasites and bacteria. The narrow genetic variability that has kept all the California populations on friendly terms may eventually backfire due to excessive inbreeding. Perhaps some day these ants may not have the genetic variability to adapt to a changing environment. How To Control Invasions of Argentine Ants" Empty your trash often and make sure your house is free of crums and food particles that might attract ants. Make sure that food containers are tightly closed, without residual traces of the food on the sides of containers. These ants can even get into screw-top jars without seals. They follow the spiral threads until they are inside! Avoid using toxic aerosol insecticides inside your home--unless you don't care about your lungs or your bone marrow. Try spraying a deodorant detergent (Pine Sol® or peppermint Castile® soap), Windex® or rubbing alcohol on ant trails in your home. This may erase the scent trail and cause the ants to become confused and disoriented. Go on search & destroy missions around your home, spraying Diazinon® on ant colonies beneath stepping stones and other cool, damp places. Documented Aggressiveness of Argentine Ants: They devoured the termite colonies inside the rotten legs of a wooden table that was removed from the Palomar College greenhouse. Within days the termites were exterminated. Note: These were dry-wood (aerial) termites, not subterranean termites. Several reports on the Internet (search: Argentine ant + termite) suggest that Argentine ants may be used in the biological control of subterranean termites; however, the effectiveness of this method is still open for discussion. They invaded the nests of paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus) under the eaves of a house, undoubtedly in search of the meaty larvae and pupae. The female wasps could not defend against this Lilliputian invasion and were driven away. They invaded the nest of carpenter bees (Xylocopa brasilianorum) in a large redwood log near the Life Sciences building. Again, they were probably attracted to the larvae or pupae within chambers in the wood. The female bees were either killed or driven away. They invaded the nest of a mourning dove (Zenaidura macroura) under the eaves of a house. The mother dove was driven away and the young were attacked and killed. Return To The WAYNE'S WORD Home Page Return To The NOTEWORTHY PLANTS Menu All text material & images on these pages copyright © W.P. Armstrong
 

Why

Argentine

Ants

invade

homes

in

Southern

California.

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