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Of all the household pests found in the San Joaquin Valley, Argentine ants can be one of the peskiest. Like something out of a science fiction novel, these ants go far beyond their proverbial status as picnic pests, and show no bashfulness in creating their long, fast-moving trails inside and outside of local residences in their quest for food and water.
Argentine ants, Linepithema humile, are the most common of the sugar-feeding ants found in the lower San Joaquin Valley. They can be recognized by the uniform size and grey color of the worker ants, and the trails they form. This is in contrast to the southern fire ant, Solenopsis xyloni, which primarily feeds on foods high in protein. Fire ants are red and black, worker size varies, and when disturbed, they have a characteristic behavior of swarming and biting anything and everything in the vicinity.
In order to effectively control Argentine ants, one must first gain an understanding of their...
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