Argentine ants

Argentine Ant (Iridomyrmex humilis)

 

Argentine ants are very aggressive, often eliminating other species of ants in the same area they occupy. Worker ants will follow food trails for long distances making finding their nests hard to track. They prefer sweet foods but will also eat live and dead insects, meats, cereals, and damaged fruit where available.

Identification:
Worker ants: Approx. 2mm long, light to dark brown in colour.
Queen ants: Approx. 4 - 6mm long and usually more than one in a colony.

Biology:
Worker ants are produced in the spring and increase in numbers up until the autumn. Winged ants, (reproductive Kings and Queens), produced in early Spring, before the workers, mature within three months and mate soon afterwards. Argentine ants’ mate in their nests so no swarming is ever seen.

Control:
The use of residual sprays or dusts will only cause stress on the colonies which is not what you want to do as this causes them to split into sub-colonies which then scatter to other areas within the structure, also known as budding. After spraying, the problem can be worse than before treatment began. The best option is gel baiting using slow acting gel bait. Quick kill insecticides and baits will only kill the foraging ants, thus not allowing them to take the bait back home to feed the queen, nest workers and brood.

 Products to control Argentine Ants: