 large repletes can be found in mature honey ant colonies, each patiently hanging and waiting to serve up dinner when called upon by its nestmates.
Argentine Ant. Linepithema humile.
Argentine Ant tending soft scale for honeydew. Image courtesy Penarc.
Identification. The Argentine ant is a one node, small, shiny, brown ant with only one size of worker. Workers are usually about 1/12 to 1/8 inch long. The queen ants are much larger, sometimes reaching 1/4 inch in length. They nest outdoors under logs, concrete slabs, debris and mulch. Argentine ants build very large colonies and can move rapidly. During winter months, this ant will move indoors.
Biology. This ant is successful and hard to control because:
· Different Argentine ant colonies in a same general locale are not enemies. Even the many queens in a single colony or separate colonies are friendly to each other.
· Argentine ants are not too "picky" when choosing a suitable site to infest or colonize. They readily (as you will read about in move their nests during the changing seasons and other conditions.
· These pests are omnivorous; they seem to never be in short supply of food.
· Each colony of Argentine ants contains a multitude of workers.
· Each worker is more courageous and harder worker than most ants. Creatures that attempt to prey on Argentine ants are confronted with an army of stubborn bugs that never runs from a fight!
· The queens of most ant species are usually egg-laying machines. The queen ant of Argentines actually helps in the care, grooming and feeding of her young.
· Most species of ants mate and reproduce by swarming; the Argentine mates in the colony, unexposed to the perils of birds, frogs, lizards, predator insects and extreme weather conditions. A swarmer reproductive (as seen with fireants and carpenter ants) has about 1 chance in 1,000 of surviving and successfully reproducing. The Argentine ant queen always succeeds!
Distribution. Originating from Northern Argentina near the Paraná River and surrounding regions, the Argentine an