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Argentine Ant
This page is about identification and extermination of argentine ants. It also contains argentine ant pictures and information on how to exterminate-exterminating argentine ants.
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COMMON NAME: Argentine Ant
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Iddomyrmex humilis (Mayr)
CLASSlORDERIFAMILY: Insecta/Hymenoptera/Formidicae
METAMORPHOSIS: Complete
INTRODUCTION: This South American speciest, is native to Argentina and Brazil. It was introduced at New Orleans entering on coffee ships from Brazil before 1891. Argentine ants are commonly found in the southern states and in California, with isolated infestations in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington.
RECOGNITION: Workers monomorphic, about 1/16" long; queens about 1/8-1/"4 in length. Body varies from light to dark brown. Antenna 12-segmented, without a club. The thorax lacks spines, profile unevenly rounded. the pedicel 1-segmented. Gaster has a anal opening that is slitlike, lacking circlet of hairs. A stinger is absent, but can bite on provocation. Workers emit a stale greasy or musty odor when crushed.
BIOLOGY: Colonies are found in moist situations near a food source. Their colony size can include a few hundred to several thousand workers and many queens; numbers fluctuate seasonally. In the autumn, outside colonies join together to form huge over-wintering nests. The development time (egg to adult) is from 33-140 days, averaging about 75 days. Winged female reproductives are rarely seen because mating takes place inside the nest. The workers are very aggressive and usually eliminate other ant species and other insects from their nesting area. However, ants from different Argentine ant colonies are friendly and do not fight.
HABITS: Inside, these ants usually nest near a moisture source such as water pipes, sinks, potted plants, etc. The workers follow regular trails when foraging, and winged queens can sometimes be found among trailing workers. Workers commonly tend honeydew-producing insects, such ads aphids and scale insects. The preferred foods are sweets such as sugars and syrup but they will feed on almost every kind of food including meats, eggs, oil, fats, and all the foods we eat.
Outside, Argentine ants typically live in shallow nests located in moist situations such as under decorative stones, boards and landscaping objects, beneath plants, along sidewalks, etc. This ant prefers sweets like honeydew, fruit juices, and plant secretions, but also steal seeds, attacks poultry chicks, disrupts bee hives, and so forth. Their habit of crawling over everything including refuse, sewage, sputum, carrion, etc. affords them the opportunity to transport the disease organisms for dysentery, salmonella and the like.
Argentine ants invade buildings in large numbers when conditions outside are either too wet or too dry for them to live comfortably. Also, a decrease in their honeydew supply sends them indoors voraciously seeking sweets. They will readily trail along tree and shrub branches, as well as utility lines/wires to gain entrance into your home.
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