Facts

Scientific Facts About Ants in Central Alabama

• Species Diversity: Central Alabama hosts approximately 170 ant species, including 57 considered common pests, from 9 subfamilies and 39 genera, with notable species like red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta), black carpenter ants (Camponotus pennsylvanicus), and Argentine ants (Linepithema humile).
• Fire Ant Biology: Red imported fire ants, introduced via Mobile, Alabama, around the 1930s, form colonies of 40-80 per acre (up to 200-600 in polygyne colonies), with a single queen or multiple queens laying thousands of eggs; workers vary from 1/8-1/4 inch and feed on insects, nectar, and honeydew.
• Carpenter Ant Behavior: Black carpenter ants, common in Central Alabama, excavate moist or mold-damaged wood to build smooth-tunneled nests, ranging from 1/4-1/2 inch in size, and can cause structural damage if untreated, often mistaken for termite activity.
• Argentine Ant Colonies: Argentine ants, prevalent in Alabama’s moist climates, form massive, multi-queen colonies across diverse habitats like soil, rotten wood, or debris, outcompeting fire ants and contaminating food with their foraging trails.
• Social Structure: Ants in Central Alabama, like most Formicidae, are eusocial, with sterile female workers, soldiers, and a reproductive queen; communication relies on pheromones for foraging, defense, and colony coordination.
• Reproductive Cycle: Fire ant queens in Central Alabama mate during aerial swarms, laying eggs that hatch into larvae, pupae, and adults in weeks; new colonies grow rapidly, with small colonies becoming mature in months if unopposed.
• Ecological Impact: Invasive species like fire ants displace native ants, reduce ground-nesting bird populations, and cause economic losses (e.g., $51 billion globally from 1930-2021 for invasive ants), impacting Alabama’s ecosystems.
• Pheromone Navigation: Ants in Central Alabama, such as pavement ants, use pheromone trails to locate food, with species like Argentine ants depositing continuous trails to avoid revisiting depleted sources.

Fun Facts About Ants in Central Alabama

• Fire Ant Rafts: During floods, Central Alabama’s fire ants form living rafts, linking bodies to float and relocate colonies, sometimes building bridges with their bodies to cross water.
• Painful Stings: Red imported fire ants deliver stings with piperidine alkaloids, causing burning sensations and, in rare cases, anaphylactic shock; their mounds can damage farm equipment.
• Supercolony Potential: Argentine ants in Central Alabama can form supercolonies, similar to a 3,700-mile colony in Europe, with billions of workers cooperating across multiple nests.
• Odorous House Ants: These small, dark ants, common in Central Alabama, emit a rotten coconut smell when crushed, triggering a swarm of thousands to surround the dead ant.
• Crazy Ant Invasion: Tawny crazy ants, recently spreading into Alabama’s western edge, move erratically and form huge colonies, outcompeting fire ants without stinging, but they nest in electrical equipment.
• Strength Champions: Alabama ants, like most, can lift 20-50 times their body weight; a carpenter ant could theoretically carry a small twig or crumb weighing ounces.
• Ancient Survivors: Ants in Central Alabama have existed for ~130 million years, surviving the Ice Age, with prehistoric relatives like Titanomymra giganteum having 6-inch wingspans.
• Pavement Ant Battles: Pavement ants, nesting in Central Alabama’s sidewalks, engage in weeks-long wars with rival colonies, leaving tiny battlefields of dead ants after heavy rains.