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UC
IPM Home > Antkey > Red
Imported Fire Ant > Colony Propogation
How to Manage Pests
Key to Identifying Common Household Ants
Red imported fire ant
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Colony propagation
After colonies are 1 year old, they begin to produce winged
reproductive forms. The reproductives seek out new colony locations
during the 6-8 mating flights that occur between spring and
fall. These flights usually occur in afternoons after a rainy
period when the weather is warm enough. After mating, the fertilized
queen sheds her wings and begins building a new colony, and
the male dies. Colonies may also propagate by budding where
a group of workers leave an existing colony with larvae, pupae,
and occasionally queens to establish a new colony. Colonies
have multiple queens and may join together to form supercolonies
or split into 2 or more colonies. The colonies are very mobile;
each one moves at least once every 6 months as a result of
extremely wet or dry weather or as a response to an ineffective
insecticide treatment. In the hot, dry summer months, colonies
may move close to buildings and homes and forage indoors. The
peak time for activity is from April through December. There
is not much activity January through March. |
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