The queen needs only a few workers to start a new colony. They can develop a new mound several hundred feed away from their previous location almost overnight. Flooding causes colonies to leave their mounds and float until they can reach land to establish a new mound. Colonies also can migrate to indoor locations. Mounds of loose soil, resembling gopher diggings, are found above ground.
Mounds are generally numerous and easily sighted.
Worker ants are dark, small, highly variable in size, aggressive, and sting relentlessly. Workers have the same body proportions from the tiniest to the largest. Head width never exceeds the abdomen width, even in the largest workers. Total time from egg to adult averages 30 days,workers live up to 180 days, and queens live two to six years. The imported fire ant will not only forage for food ,such as small insects dead animals, and sweet materials such as plant secretions but will kill insects and small animals to feed .