Red Imported Fire Ant – Chips – DFW Urban Wildlife

We were first clued into the details of this observation by the peculiar crunching noises coming from our kitchen pantry. Upon inspection of the closet we we surprised to discover a literal swarm of fire ants working hard to gain entry to this unopened bag of Tostitos tortilla chips. The crunching sound we heard was the ant chewing through the plastic bag in order to reach the chips inside.

When a worker ant discovers a large source of food, she immediately returns to the colony to get assistance. Along the way the first ant will chemically mark the trail, so that the other worker ants can find their way to and from the food source. Here you can see a multitude of worker ants following a chemical trail to the bag of chips and then back again to the ant’s colony.

These ants are chewing their way through the plastic of a bag of tortilla chips. If you look just below the ant in the center you can see a hole that the ants have made in the bag.

Here you can see a small hole chewed by the ants, near the center of the picture just above the seam.

Observation Details

County	–	Denton
City	–	Carrollton
Date	–	August 3, 2005
Time of Day	–	Afternoon
Temperature	–	Hot (greater than 89°F/32°C)
Weather	–	Clear
Habitat	–	Residential – Single Family
Type of Behavior	–	Foraging
Gender	–	Female
Maturity	–	Adult
Observer	–	Chris Jackson

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