How Many Fire Ants Live in a Colony?

If you constantly struggle to control fire ants on your property, you may wonder how many of these nasty pests actually live in a colony. Believe it or not, you could have 7 to 40 million ants per acre of land. It may be time to take advantage of the proven fire ant killer from Fire Ant Control, LLC!

Red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) infest more than 330 million acres across the southern United States and pose a serious public health threat, causing injuries with their stings to more than 20 million adults and children each year.

How Many Fire Ants Live in a Colony?Headquartered in Bokeelia, Florida, Fire Ant Control, LLC, and our sister companies, serve the entire imported fire ant quarantine area of the southeastern U.S., and are capable of treating up to 1,000 acres per day. We guarantee that our treatment will rid 85-95% of the fire ants from your residential, commercial or agricultural property for four months at a time, or your money back.

What is the Population of a Red Fire Ant Colony?

The average red fire ant colony contains 100,000 to 500,000 worker ants and up to several hundred other types of ants. Single queen colonies may build 40 to 150 mounds that house about 7 million red fire ants per acre. If your property is infested with multiple queen colonies, there may be 200 or more mounds per acre and up to 40 million red fire ants.

What Types of Ants Live in the Colony?

Red imported fire ant colonies are typically home to four different types of ants – queens, worker ants, winged males, and winged females.

The fire ant queen is the leader of the colony. Her sole purpose is to be an egg-laying machine – laying up to 1,500 eggs per day for two to seven years – to populate the colony. Her nest is located deep within the colony where she is fed by worker ants and protected from predators. Once the queen establishes her colony, she never leaves the colony again.

Worker ants are sterile, wingless females. They are responsible for building and maintaining the mound, protecting the colony from invaders and, most importantly, feeding the queen and the colony. They forage for, gather, and allocate food, passing it to one another and feeding larvae and queens by mouth.

Winged fire ants are called “alates” or “reproductives.” They live in the colony until it’s time for a “nuptial” (mating) flight. The males fly off first and wait for the females in the air. The female alates (virgin queens) emerge from the mound and take flight, mating in the air with a waiting male. Males die soon after mating, while the newly fertilized queens find a place to start a new nest, then shed their now useless wings and start new colonies.

Kill Fire Ants from the Inside Out

The key to exterminating red fire ants is to kill the colonies from the inside out by sterilizing the queen(s).

Fire Ant Control, LLC’s proven fire ant treatment focuses on sterilizing the queen. Extermination is not instantaneous but, once the worker ants have eaten the potent granular bait and carried it down into the colony, sterilizing the queen, the entire colony will disappear, and no new ants will be born.

If you have more questions about how many fire ants live in a colony or the best way to get rid of them, Fire Ant Control, LLC, can help. Our services are fully licensed and insured. Call us today at (239) 312-8200 for a free estimate!