Fire Ant Mounds

Fire Ant Bites

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Dome Shaped, Usually Oblong

Fire Ant Mound Pictures

The nests of fireants look like dome-shaped mounds. Those found on the ground will typically be oblong in shape. An important distinction about fire ant mounds is that they have no exit hole in the top. There will be several exit holes on the sides of the mound. If you watch, it should be easy to see the ants entering and exiting through these holes.

Entrances and Exits

Depending on the type of soil, mounds can reach up to 18 inches high. They prefer to live in areas where the ground is damp and there is water nearby. When the weather gets hot and dry, they burrow deep underground to find cooler temperatures. When it’s cold, they tunnel to warm areas of the ground. They are most active in the spring and fall, when the weather is warm and damp, building their nests and foraging for food.

Piles of Garbage

Ant's are known for keeping a clean house. They will create trash piles called middens which store all of the colony's garbage. In the winter months, when it is too cold for the fire ants to visit the surface, they will temporarily store their garbage in specially designated underground chambers. The middens can grow considerably with the colony's dead after a battle with another colony or an application of pesticides.

Where To Look

These nests can be found almost anywhere. They will build in places ranging from the wide open space in the middle of your yard to the inside of the television set in your house. Be especially careful to watch for these mounds every time you work in your garden. Your garden may be ant free today but have a significant mound next week.

It has been observed that fire ants LOVE concrete or other hard surfaces. It is what they want their mound to be near or directly on. You will probably see the most mounds around a concrete driveway, next to or under a patio, abutting a metal object, etc.

Examples of places fire ant mounds may be found are:

• yards
• parks
• golf courses
• pastures
• cultivated fields
• along the roadside
• gardens
• compost piles
• mulched flower beds
• side walk cracks
• electrical boxes (inside and out)
• water meter casings
• around plumbing
• electrical equipment like computers and televisions
• under the carpet
• wall voids
• next to or underneath objects like:
  • logs
  • timber
  • bricks
  • patios
  • buildings
  • pavers
  • rocks

It is important to be on the look out for them when you are outside. If you unknowingly stand on a mound or on one of its tunnels, you could find yourself covered in ants before you realize it. Since they are so small, they are hard to feel on your skin. Typically, they are on you for 10 or more seconds before they begin to bite. By then you could have hundreds of then inside your clothes which all begin to sting at once. And each of them can bite you several times. Keeping your wits about you and brushing them off is about all you can do at that point.