How do fire ants spread?
Fire ants reproduce opportunistically when conditions are wet and warm. They are found in all types of soil, but they do better in open pastures and sunny, grassy places than in thick shaded woods. Grassy medians of freeway and mowed pipeline and powerline rights of ways provide prime “freeways” for the ants too. Polygyne colonies (those with multiple queens/mound) can reproduce by budding off new colonies and spread by walking a few meters per year. Colony establishment by winged queens can occur miles beyond source populations. This mode of spread may be promoted by prevailing winds and is the only way that monogyne or single queen colonies reproduce. Judging from the spread across Texas, natural dispersal was on the order of 10-20 miles/year. Of course transport in nursery products spread the ants beyond the boundary of natural dispersal. Though fire ants may arrive in the NE U.S. and Canada via nursery products, nests in RVs, cars, vans, etc., they are not likely to become a proble
