Several other Texas ants produce mounds, including the red imported fire ant. The only other large ant that produces colony entrances with a central opening surrounded by course soil is the red harvester ant , Pogonomyrmex barbatus Smith. However, the red harvester ants do not have spines on the thorax and usually only gather seeds. Leaf cutting ants are social insects. Queen ants deposit eggs that hatch into cream colored larvae.
Males have much smaller heads than do females and both have long smoky black wings.
Sometime between April and June, on clear moonless nights, and usually after heavy rains, these winged ants leave the colony on mating flights. These ants are attracted to porch lights and are some of the largest ants encountered in Texas. Virgin queens carry a small piece of the fungus from their parent colony in a small cavity inside their mouths. After mating, the males die. The queen loses her wings and digs a small tunnel or gallery in which they begin laying eggs and culturing her fungus garden on her feces.