The newest pest to invade South Florida in the white-footed and. It is referred to as white-footed because of its two right feet that appear white under magnification. This pest originated in Japan, where it was first identified. It then spread throughout Asia and most Pacific Rim countries. It then made its way through Hawaii and actually showed up in the Homestead area of Florida as early as 1986. By 1990, indoor infestations had been reported in Miami and by 1995, throughout Fort Lauderdale. Recently, Palm beach County has been invaded.
Fortunately, white-footed ants do not bite or sting, nor have they have been reported to cause any type of structural damage. They do, however, exist in colonies made up of several hundred thousands of individuals. Therefore, white-footed ants are considered by home owners to be a nuisance pest. Add to this the fact that most pest exterminators have exempted these pests from their guarantee.
What makes this pest so unusual? Once you have them, it is very hard to get rid of them, mainly because they react differently than other types of ants which we all are used to. We are used to placing bait which the normal ant eats and carries in the first of three stomachs and then returns to its nest, regurgitates and feeds the nest including the queen. The bait then takes effect and kills the nest. Not so with the white-footed ant. White-footed ants are very unusual in that food ingested by foraging workers is not regurgitated and shared with others. The sterile workers of the nest are capable of laying unfertilized eggs which are fed to adults within the colony and their offspring. Therefore, certain toxic baits may affect only those members of the colony that directly contact and ingest baits.
The white-footed ant has an unusual life cycle. There are two different forms (morphs) of males and females, and each of the morphs disperses from the mother colony in different ways. Winged females and males mate during a mating flight and found new colonies. The male mates only once before they die but the female lives for about 400 days after founding a new colony. The queen is then replaced by a wingless daughter who mates with a wingless male who is capable of multiple matings. The reproductive potential of the multiple queen white-footed ant society is much greater than that of other ant species that have single queens.
Although these pests are strongly attracted to sweet foods, they have been found dining on a multitude of items. Indoor locations include the kitchen, pantry or where food is stored. It is also common to find them in the bathroom. They usually form their colonies within an outside wall. Outside they can be found under piles of brush, within flowers or at wounds in trees. Since all white-footed ants must find their own food, it is not uncommon to find huge swarms at a food source. Since baiting doesn't help, it is necessary to continue fighting there ants as they appear.
As previously stated, these ants are constantly forming new colonies. These colonies are raising new invaders as you are dealing with the older ones. For this reason it is extremely difficult to eliminate them. Don't think that your exterminator is failing you because they keep appearing. Unless you locate each colony and find where they enter the house you have to be very patient.
