In Search Of... Season 2 # 22, DEADLY ANTS

Millions of years of before the dawn of modern man ants have learned to live at complex societies. Ants are better adapted to their environment than other animals. Hundreds of thousands of ants work in highly organized operations.

Beside army-ants a. o. there's the fire-ant. Their painful sting gave them their name. Up to 20 feet down a network of tunnels is built. Fire-ant will easily delay an attack to wait for others to join them guaranteeing an easy win. 150 million acres in the United States host fire-ants. Chemicals to fight them caused them to spread. A fleet of airplanes tried for years to fight them, again, they multiplied. If ever there is a species which could not be extinct – it is the fire-ant.

Queens are fertilized in the air by males waiting for them. Back on the ground they establish a new colony - wherever they land.