Harvester Ants

Characteristics
Size: Ranges from 3/8-inch to 1/2-inch in length.
Color: Color will vary from red to reddish brown to black, depending on the species.

Behavior
These ants got their name from the way they “Harvest” or clear the vegetation that is located directly around the entrance to their nest.
In some cases they are known to clear as much as 30 feet in diameter. Most of the time you will only see a few feet of clearing.
Some species will carry the excavated soil away from the nest, while others will construct mounds.

Harvester ants will defend their nests by aggressively biting or stinging.

Habitat
Harvester ants are most common to the dessert and are mainly fond in the southwest. Arizona is especially known for it’s large population of harvester ants. These ants nest in the soil with a single entrance hole.

Tips for Control
Regular applications are important and necessary for prevention. The best method to gain control for harvester ants is the use of bait.

Fire Ant

Characteristics
Size: Ranges from 1/8-inch to almost 3/8-inch in length
Color: Reddish brown

Introduction
Fire Ants will usually take care of the introduction themselves…unfortunately, with a sting! This is the surest way to know if you are indeed dealing with fire ants.

Behavior
The most important thing to note about fire ants behavior is the sting. It is important to know that fire ants rarely only leave one sting; rather it is more common for stings to occur by the dozens and even hundreds. This can become very dangerous to individuals who have allergic reactions to them.

Habitat
The large mounds that are spotted in lawns and in park strips along the road are commonly fire ant mounds. Even though most of these mounds are large in size and located on the surface, they are also poorly constructed, which means that many mounds will not be visible to the untrained eye.

Tips for Control
Regular applications are important and necessary for control. The health threat alone makes prevention an important part of the control process.

Argentine Ant

Characteristics
Size: Workers are about 1/8-inch in length
Color: Will vary from dark brown to black, often the body will be shiny in appearance.

Introduction
Argentine ant colonies can become very large. These colonies may grow as large as 10,000 workers, and have multiple queens. Every argentine ant colony will be divided into satellite colonies. Each satellite colony will then be connected by what is referred to as a trunk trail.

Behavior
Despite the face that there may be two separate colonies or satellites colonies located in close proximity, these two groups of ants will not become aggressive toward each other, rather they will combine into one super-colony.

Habitat
Argentine ants will typically make shallow nests n the soil beneath stones, boards, concrete slabs or anything that offers protection.

Tips for Control
Regular applications are important and necessary for control.