Fire Ants and Harvester Ants
Both fire ants and harvester ants are capable of inflicting painful stings. In fact, the stings are the reason why fire ants are called fire ants. Fire ant stings burn like fire. In fact, they feel like someone built a fire under your skin, and it’s burning its way to the surface.Harvester ant stings aren’t a lot of fun, either. In fact, on the Schmidt Pain Index (yes, there is such a thing), harvester ant stings rank even worse than fire ant stings.
As if that weren’t bad enough, it’s pretty unusual to be stung by only one fire ant or harvester ant. Fire ants don’t sting just for the fun of it. When they sting, they do so in self-defense. They feel that their nests are being threatened. So they come out in full force, with hundreds or thousands of ants attacking the perceived threat, with a singleness of purpose that would make a military commander proud. Fire ant and harvester ant extermination are definitely not do-it-yourself jobs.
Comparison of Fire Ants and Harvester Ants
Beyond those similarities, fire ants and harvester ants really aren’t very closely related, aside from both species being ants. They don’t share a known common ancestor, they’re not all that morphologically similar (except for being red in color), and they have different habits.
Harvester ants are bigger than fire ants at about a quarter of an inch, and all adult worker harvester ants are about that size. Adult fire ant workers can be as small as one-sixteenth of an inch, and the biggest fire ant workers are slightly less than a quarter inch in length.
Fire ants and harvester ants also eat different foods. Fire ants are omnivorous, feeding on plant materials, insects and other arthropods, carrion, and occasionally small mammals. Harvester ants mainly eat seeds, which they carry to and store in their nests (which is why they’re called harvester ants).
Fire ants and harvester ants also build different kinds of nests, with the most noticeable differences being that harvester ant nests tend to be flatter, are devoid of living vegetation, tend to have empty seed shells strewn about, and usually have a single entrance hole. Fire ant nests are more dome-shaped, can become quite large, and have no visible entry or exist holes.
Fire Ant and Harvester Ant Control
For more information about High Desert Pest’s fire ant and harvester ant extermination services, please contact us for a professional inspection, consultation, and treatment plan.