Argentine Ant

Argentine Ant Facts

The Argentine ant is native to Argentina and Brazil, and was brought to New Orleans in the 1800s on the ships of coffee exporters. These ants can be found in the Southeastern United States and California, with some Argentine ant infestations appearing in Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, and Washington.

Argentine Ant Bites

Argentine ants bite people only when provoked and the bites are not severe. They do not have stingers. The biggest health risk associated with and Argentine ant infestation is food contamination. These small brown ants crawl over garbage, dead animals, and sewage looking for food and can bring germs that cause diseases like dysentery into your home.

Argentine Ant Infestation

These small brown ants mate in their nests and do not swarm as some ant species do. Argentine ant colonies have multiple queens. Queens can live for about a year, but workers tend to execute most of the older queens in early spring, leaving only the younger, more fertile female reproductives. Argentine ant queens are mobile and you may even see a queen in a line of foraging ants. Argentine ant colonies take kindly to other colonies of the same species and will sometimes join together to create a large colony, which can quickly lead to a big Argentine ant infestation. These ants can adapt easily and will readily build their nests in your wall voids or beneath your floorboards if it suits them.

Types of Argentine Ants

Argentine Ant Identification

These small ants are only 1/8-inch long and range in color from light to dark brown. When crushed, workers release a stale, musty odor.

Argentine Ants In The Home & The Garden

Argentine ants prefer moist environments near their food source. These small brown ants will build shallow nests in the soil under stones or plants, along sidewalks, or in the mulch and gravel used for landscaping.

If it’s too wet or dry outside, Argentine ants will invade buildings in large numbers, using branches or following utility lines to get inside. Argentine ants in your home will nest near moist areas like houseplants, water pipes and sinks. Argentine ant infestations have been found in wall voids and in piles of objects found in basements and garages. When argentine ants have found a food source in your home, you will most likely see these small brown ants in large numbers, making it easy to tell when there is a problem. Argentine ant infestations can quickly get out of control because the ant queens are mobile and will quickly begin new colonies wherever they find a good food source or a suitable nesting site.

Argentine ants love sugary and syrupy foods, but will eat basically any kind of food. In nature, these small brown ants feed on fruit juices and plant secretions, and will milk the sweet “honeydew” from aphids. They even protect the aphids from predators.

Argentine ants are very aggressive and will drive other ant colonies out of their nests and away from valuable food sources. They are one of the few natural enemies of imported fire ants. Argentine ants are not aggressive toward each other and neighboring colonies will sometimes merge to create giant “super colonies.”