Think it might be fire ants?
Keep children and pets away, and don't disturb, dig up or treat the nest. Report it to Biosecurity Queensland, online or by phone: in Queensland the law says within 24 hours. A sting burns and itches for up to an hour; if someone shows signs of anaphylaxis, use their adrenaline autoinjector straight away and call 000.
Ants with rules attached in Brisbane
Fire ants since 2001
Fire ants were first detected around Brisbane in February 2001 and have spread across an estimated 600,000 hectares of South East Queensland. They're a category 1 restricted pest under the Biosecurity Act 2014, so reporting isn't optional.
Zones move, so ask
Fire ant biosecurity zones restrict moving materials that can carry the ants, and the zones change. We can't tell you whether your street is inside one; ask when you report, or before you move soil or turf.
Yellow crazy ants
Business Queensland has recorded yellow crazy ant infestations at suburban Kedron, light industrial properties in Rocklea and an industrial estate at Pinkenba. They're category 3 restricted matter, so they can't be given away, sold or released; if you suspect them, tell Biosecurity Queensland rather than booking a treatment.
Electric ants
Electric ants are tiny, golden brown and slow moving, and Queensland's electric ant zone is in the far north around Cairns. Anywhere in the state, a suspected sighting must be reported to Biosecurity Queensland within 24 hours.
Fire ant or ordinary pest ant?
| Fire ants | Common pest ants | |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 2 to 6 mm, mixed sizes in the one nest | Mostly 1.5 to 3 mm for house ants; coastal brown ant soldiers are bigger, with large heads |
| Colour | Coppery brown head and body, darker abdomen | Black, brown or a metallic green, depending on the kind |
| Nest | A mound of loose, crumbly soil up to 40 cm high, or a flat patch, with no obvious entry holes, in open lawn or under pavers | Trails into the kitchen, nests in paving, garden beds, walls or ceilings |
| Behaviour | Fast, and swarm up legs before anyone notices | Steady trails to food |
| What to do | Report to Biosecurity Queensland | Tap Spiders or ants |
The ants a pest business treats
Black house ants are small, intensely black and smell when crushed; they nest along paths and rockeries and often inside ceilings, wall cavities and subfloors. Coastal brown ants leave lines of small holes and soil mounds in lawns and brick paving, and their soldiers have oversized heads. Singapore ants, which Western Australia's agriculture department lists as established in Queensland, can nest in power points and chew wiring.
Sugar ants (carpenter ants) forage at night and nest in soil or rotting timber, but rarely cause structural damage; Victoria's health department says ants can't damage sound timber. If timber is soft or hollow, think termites and see our Brisbane termites page. Green-head ants and bull ants sting, and bull ant stings sometimes cause anaphylaxis, so nests near play areas are worth treating.
Which ant it is decides the method. Some kinds are better baited than sprayed: Victoria's health department warns that spraying Pharaoh's ants splits the colony and makes things worse. The job grows when nests are inside walls or roofs, or when ants keep arriving from a neighbour's yard.
Your share of it
You can
- Wipe benches and sweep up crumbs, and keep honey, sugar and pet food sealed.
- Fix leaks: water draws ants as much as food.
- Photograph the ants on a light surface beside a coin, for the pest business.
- Keep plants and mulch from touching the walls.
Leave to a pest business
- Working out which ant it is, and baiting or treating to suit.
- Nests inside walls, ceilings and power points.
- Bull ant nests near play areas.
On the phone
- Which ant do you think this is from my photo?
- Will you bait, spray or both, and why for this ant?
- Which product, by full name, and where will it go?
- If they come back from next door, what then?
Where we'd start with ant control in Brisbane
If the ants are coppery, mixed in size and coming from a loose mound in the lawn, we'd report them to Biosecurity Queensland before doing anything else. For an ordinary trail, clean up for a few days and see; if it keeps coming, tap Spiders or ants with a photo.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
