volves around a specialized soldier (major) and a three-stage strategy to defend against fire ant attack. These soldiers are equipped with huge heads that are equipped with large sharp jaws provided with massive muscles. These do not attempt to sting or spray their enemy with poisons (common in many ants) but quite precisely use their mandible to snip off legs, heads and other body parts. Unless attacked the majors remain in the colony. However, the minors regularly forage for food but are always on the alert for scout fire ants that are looking for colonies to raid. If a woodland ant minor encounters a fire ant soldier close to its colony a violent response is triggered. Once detected the minor rushes to the fire ant in a mock attack but merely touches the potential invader in order to acquire some of its odor. She then quickly retreats toward her nest. As she retreats she lays a pheromone trail by periodically touching her abdomen to the ground. On her way back she briefly rushes up to any other minor alerting them to the presence of the fire ant scout. Once in the nest soldiers plus many of the minors are alerted to the presence of the invader scout (by its smell on the minor worker) they subsequently rush in mass along the already establish pheromone trail leading to the enemy. Once found the soldier surrounds the fire ant and attack relentlessly and are fully capable of destroying it due to their great superiority in numbers. Of course the whole purpose is to kill the fire ant scout before it can alert other fire ants in the area as to the presence of a woodland ant colony. Once accomplished the soldiers search the general area for any other fire ant scouts.
If fire ants mount a full scale attack of a woodland ant colony, the defenders have an alternate strategy. As fire ants arrive in full force the entire force of woodland soldier ants are sent into the battle. Soon the battle ground is littered with the bodies of the smaller species plus a multitude of legs and other body parts of the fire ants. As the ba