‘The Battleground Was Littered’

Entomologist Hanif Gulmahamad of Anaheim documented an Argentine ant war in an article published in Pest Control magazine. Here is an excerpt from his account of the battle he saw in an expansion joint of a sidewalk:

I came across the battle scene around 9 o’clock that morning, while trying to determine how far an Argentine ant trail had extended and where the nest might be located.

The battleground was littered with bodies of both species encompassing an area about 9 feet long and 5 to 13 inches wide on the sidewalk bordering the lawn of one property. The battle was still being waged, though not as intense as it may have been earlier.

Judging from the number of southern fire ant minor workers lying around, it would appear that these small workers were easily dispatched by Argentine ants’ mandibular [bites]. Argentine ants were still ganging up on and battling a few southern ant major workers until around noon. Because of unfavorable temperature conditions about this time, the Argentine ant executed a tactical retreat.

At 11:20 that morning, I made a visual count of a representative 10-inch by 10-inch area of the pavement, recording 23 dead southern fire ants and 13 dead Argentine ants. This count may not have been entirely accurate, as these wars are often cannibal wars where the victims’ bodies are dragged off to be used as food by the victors. In Hawaii, an Argentine ant colony took 10 to 14 days to extirpate all of the workers of a fire ant colony.

In discussing ant wars, the eminent myrmecologist Auguste Forel was correct in observing that, “The greatest enemies of ants are other ants, just as the greatest enemies of men are other men.”