Fire ants up close
Fire ants have five characteristics that together set them apart from other ants you might find:
- they are 2–6 mm long
- they are found in a variety of sizes within one nest
- they are dark reddish-brown in colour
- they have darker brown-black abdomens
- they are aggressive - hundreds of ants will come out of a nest if disturbed, trying to sting over and over.
With magnification, you can see that their waist section has two segments.
Queen, male alate and worker
A mature nest will produce reproductive male and female ants with wings.
Red Imported Fire Ant
Fire ants are dark reddish-brown in colour, with darker brown-black abdomens
A look inside a fire ant nest
Workers feed and care for young ants and the queen.
Under the microscope
A microscope reveals more identifying features, including two club segments on the antennae and two waist segments.
You'll find various sizes within a nest
Fire ants are polymorphic, which means you will find a range of sizes in the nest, from 2-6mm. Most similar ants are uniform in size or may exhibit two size classes.
Fire ants will swarm in numbers
If disturbed, fire ants will quickly swarm from the nest in large numbers. You can find yourself covered in ants within a few seconds.