Only a very small percentage of queens survive after landing. Most queens are killed by foraging ants, especially other fire ants. If a queen survives, she sheds her wings, burrows into the ground, and lays eggs to begin a new colony. In the late fall, many small colonies of fire ants will appear. Many of the colonies will not survive the winter unless the weather is mild.
Fire ants prefer oily and greasy foods.
They also feed on many other insects and, from that standpoint, could be considered beneficial. To find food, workers forage around their mound. These ants usually travel in underground tunnels that radiate from the mound. If the mound is disturbed, ants swarm out and sting the intruder. Control of Outdoor Populations Because fire ants cannot be eradicated over wide areas, the goals of insecticide treatment are to eliminate fire ants in areas where the risk to people is high and to reduce infestations to acceptable levels.