Native ants to my area, hahaha, what are those?
Argentines or invicta?
Almost. There are 4 major contenders.
Argentine ants as far as the eye can see.
Solenopsis invicta randomly, though did great toward end of summer. They are 3rd most populated ant, though that will probably change later this year to become 2nd. They had so many alates that one of the pools got clogged up and they had to completely drain it with how many alates there were. They drove out the argentine ants in a huge area down in the wilderness part, and had no sign of stopping until it got to winter.
Brachymyrmex patagonicus that actually drive out any tiny/similar sized ant, and are also currently the 2nd most numerous ant around here. They even drive out the argentine ants in some areas. They never grow though or spread out of what they already have, pretty stable.
Pheidole megacephala, grew quite a bit last year though think this year they will stagnate. They drove out the argentine ants in a couple areas but got held back/driven off in other areas. 4th most populated ant, and least likely to be successful. If the pheidole do by chance beat the argentine ants, the solenopsis invicta grew a TON more than they did this year. The solenopsis invicta would outcompete pheidole megacephala here. Plus, I don't see them doing that great since all the areas they can expand to are dominated by argentine ants and the argentine ants held them back and very slightly beat in key areas. Their expansion will remain extremely limited and only can expand into heavy population of argentine ant territory. However since I'm moving this year who knows what they'll do during their peak months of july/august. I just don't see them being successful against hordes of argentine ants, though I guess solenopsis invicta managed to do it.
There used to be Pogonomyrmex californicus, but they got killed by construction+landscaping=prime argentine ant habitat. Same thing happened with the Solenopsis xyloni, they used to be here but they landscaped the area they were in and argentine ants moved in killing them. Used to be Dorymyrmex bicolor I could get to, took a good 2 hour walk to reach them, but they built a housing neighborhood above them and argentine ants moved in.
So literally as far as I can walk, no native ants. Hopefully where I move has better ants than stupidly annoying argentine ants and solenopsis invicta lol.
We got tons of invaders here, but the species that's most populous tends to vary. At the moment it Linepithema humile, but only a few months ago the top invader was Brachyponera chinensis. Solenopsis invicta is only top dog in a few areas, usually areas with lots of clay or sand. In a lot of areas though, one of the top invaders (that kind of lives with Solenopsis invicta) is, get ready for this, Cyphomyrmex rimosus! They are literally everywhere, in every habitat, sandy soil, clay, deciduous woodlands, in the middle of highly populated, disturbed areas, inside of Solenopsis invicta mounds, pine woodlands, pavements, and even in arboreal habitats! They don't appear to have any effect on native species, in fact seeming to live alongside native species, but I suspect the species will spread further north as the Earth warms, forming relations with other species along the way. So far, they've only made it as far north as central North Carolina, but they will for sure spread further, so northern members, be on the lookout for these cool Attines! Just look for short, leggy, grayish ants running around in open areas, often carrying bits of debris. Colonies are easy to collect as their chambers are often shallow and under objects, and their yeast gardens are unmistakable.
