What happens if you kill the fire ant queen?

Being a red fire ant queen is no joke. The entirety of the colony is built around her and follows her order. Though there are mutinies sometimes, that’s a topic for later. The question of the hour is, what happens if the fire queen is killed or dies for some other reason?

The question shall be answered in this blog. However, before we get to that, lets learn a little bit about fire ants and how to identify them and queens apart. Therefore, let’s get into it.

Fire ant vs regular ant

As far as appearance are concerned, they are similar to other species of ants. But fire ants are quite aggressive in contrast to many other species. They even bite humans and carry venom. This is the reason behind their name. If you want to get rid of ants then connect with controlmypest experts.

Fire ant venom once inside you feels like someone has lit you on fire. This is not seen in other common ant species. Moreover, some people are also allergic to fire ant bites. But this is quite rare and is not seen that often.

Nevertheless, let it be clarified that fire ant bites feel nothing like one from regular ant. If you are on receiving end of a bite, it’s going to be painful for you.

Identifying fire ants

The name of the fire ants gives a strong feeling that these ants are red. It is a common assumption, but that’s not always the case. Yes, they are red but not always. They can have a variety of colors. While some of them are red, they can also be black. The color depends on the species of fire ants.

With that said, fire ants also have two bumps that can be seen between their thorax and abdomen. In addition to this, if you look close enough you will see that they have 10 different segmentations in their antennae.

Now that you know how to identify fire ants, in the next section of the blog, we shall be discussing how to tell queens apart from other fire ants.

How can you tell which fire ant is the queen?

Fire ant queen is easy to distinguish. She is a queen after all. As such, you will see that the queen is quite large in contrast to other fire ants. They are at least twice the size of normal ants. In addition to this, the queen has a thick and long abdomen.

The reason being that queen has only one job that is laying hundreds and hundreds of eggs. Nevertheless, young queen ants are a little different. As they have wings, but they shed off after reproduction. So, if you see a fire ant queen with wings, it young queen.

It is recommended that you don’t go looking for fire ants on your own. For a queen lie deep within the colony. Plus, they are protected heavily by guards. So if you dig inside the colony, you are at risk of being attack badly.

Moreover, you will never see them outside the colony, because they never leave their place. If you see one outside, it means they are moving to a new colony.

However, if you have decided that you will not stop before you see the queen. Following the worker, an ant is a good option. This will lead you to the colony where you can find the queen fire ant.

One queen, many queens

While some fire ant colonies have a single queen, this is not always the case. It is quite common to find a fire ant colony that has more than one red fire ant queen. Sometimes there are fires at colonies that have both one queen and several queens nearby. 

Like mentioned before, the queen has only one job that is laying eggs. A fire ant queen mates with drones i.e. male fire ants. Then they lay thousands and thousands of eggs. Both the queen and the eggs are protected by worker ants. So if you try to get to queen or eggs you have to go through their painful stings and bites of these worker fire ants.

What happens if the fire ant queen dies?

Now, it’s time to answer the queen you all have been waiting for. What happens if the fire ant queen dies? Well, if this happens, it is a dire situation for the colony of fire ants.

The reason being that a queen is the only ant that can produce eggs. Normal female worker ants cannot reproduce. Thus, if for any reason, the fire ant queen dies the colony will fall into ruin. It doesn’t happen all of a sudden but slowly. The rest of the workers will still work like usual and keep bringing food to the colony.

However, the ants have quite a short life span. And with no news members coming it, the colony will come to an end eventually.

How to kill the queen fire ant?

Fire ants queens are sometimes killed by a mutiny by their children i.e. the colony. This happens when the queen stops doing the only task assigned to her, which is producing eggs. This leads worker ants to get frustrated and try to kill the queen. If they are successful, a new and younger queen ant will take her place and start reproducing.

However, it is not child’s play to kill the queen. She will sacrifice drones and workers to protect herself in case of any danger. So, whenever a mutiny happens, it mostly results in the whole colony dying of civil war. As far as killing the fire ant queen is concerned, you have to kill the whole colony for that. There are no shortcuts to the queen.

Are fire ants getting out of hands? Here is what to do

Fire ants are one of the most dangerous ant species without a doubt. Thus, if they are left unchecked, things can get out of hand. No one wants ants in their house, let alone fire ants. One red fire ant queen or multiples the problem is getting worse for you.

Luckily, we have just the right solution that can help you deal with these ants. And this is Control My Pest. This is one of the top pest control companies in the US. Not only do they provide top-quality service, but they also offer them at the most affordable rates.

In addition to this, control my pest in IPM compliant. So, call them ASAP to get rid of your fire ant problem.