Red imported fire ants build loose soil mounds with no visible entry hole, and they swarm up and sting together when the mound is disturbed. They are worst in disturbed soil, which is why new construction in Haslet, north Keller and Aledo sees the heaviest pressure in our service area.
What Do Fire Ants Look Like?
Reddish-brown ants ranging from about 1/8 to 1/4 inch, with workers of noticeably different sizes in the same colony. The mound is the real identifier: a dome of fluffy, worked soil with no single opening, most visible within days of rain.
- Mixed worker sizes in one colony, unlike most native ants
- Mound has no central hole, because they enter through underground tunnels
- Aggressive and fast when disturbed, swarming up rather than scattering
- Sting produces a white pustule after a day or so, which is distinctive
Are Fire Ants Dangerous?
The sting hurts and typically leaves a pustule that lasts several days. For most people that is the whole story. For a small child, an elderly person or anyone with a sting allergy, a mass stinging event is a genuine medical risk, and that is the most common reason people call us urgently.
Why Is My Yard Full of Fire Ants?
Disturbed soil and open sun. Construction grading removes competing native ant species and fire ants colonize the vacuum faster than anything else, which is why a three-year-old subdivision can have more mounds than a fifty-year-old neighborhood. Rain does not create them, it just pushes existing colonies up where you can see them.
How Do You Get Rid of Fire Ants?
Broadcast bait across the entire yard, not mound-by-mound drenching. Foragers carry bait to the queen and the colony dies from the inside, which takes two to three weeks but actually finishes the job. Drenching a mound usually kills workers and prompts the queen to relocate a few feet away.
Whole-yard broadcast bait, included at no extra charge on both the Home Defender and Complete Home Defense plans.
See Fire Ant Control
