Frequently Asked Questions About Insects - Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University

Frequently Asked Questions

Topic:	Ants, harvester (red)
Question:	I was told red ants kill fire ants, is this true?
Answer:	Like many questions concerning fire ants, the answer is not as simple as yes or no. The native ant population is very important in delaying the spread or reinfestation of imported fire ants. Red harvester ants are generally seed feeders and scavengers on dead insects; in other words they do not seek out fire ants to kill. However, red harvester ants do defend their colony and will kill fire ants if their colony is threatened. In the fire ant work conducted in Lampasas and San Angelo, fire ant mounds and red harvester ant mounds co-exist within 10 feet of each other. This is a function of competition. Both mounds are at equal strength and neither ant has a competitive advantage. Recent research has shown that if fire ants are removed with baits, the native ant population increases, including red harvester ants. What appears to be happening is that the fire ants are initially better competitors for the bait and take the insecticide back to the colony. The fire ants are thus reduced in numbers and the red harvester ants now have less competition for seeds (fire ants are seed feeders also) and can increase. If new fire ant queens try to establish a mound near the red harvester ants, the red harvester ants will kill out the new fire ant colony (strictly a numbers game). Our current recommendation is that if fire ant mounds outnumber red harvester ant mounds then the use of a broadcast bait should not reduce the red harvester ant numbers because the fire ants will remove the bait first. Red harvester ant numbers should increase within a year or two and help delay fire ants from reinfesting the area. If you have property where red harvester ants are more numerous than fire ants, then fire ants should be treated on an individual mound basis. See related links for more information.
Related Link:	http://fireant.tamu.edu/materials/factsheets/040_final.pdf
Related Link:
Image Link: **
Response by:	Chris Sansone
Title:	Associate Professor and Extension Entomologist
** Most of the Related Links above also contain images.

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