Invasive Ants Form Super Colonies, Damage Property

Tawny crazy ants, native to South America, are causing millions of dollars in property damage across the Southeast.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Natural Disasters

Tawny brown ants swarm across the lower edge of a gray utility box on a pale stucco wall, with green shrubbery softly blurred behind. — Invasive tawny crazy ants from South America have formed super colonies causing millions of dollars in property damage across the Southeast, shorting out breaker boxes. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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Invasive tawny crazy ants have formed super colonies containing millions of ants that have caused millions of dollars in property damage across the Southeast. Infestations have shorted out breaker boxes and temporarily shut down large businesses in Houston.

Why it matters

The ants are drawn to electrical equipment, and alarm pheromones they release attract more ants, compounding the problem. Because they have been established in the United States for nearly a century, their spread now poses a lasting challenge for affected communities.

Super colonies containing millions of ants have been linked to millions of dollars in property damage across the Southeast. The exact total cost and the full geographic extent of the infestation remain unspecified in available reporting.

The players

Joe MacGown

MacGown is an ant taxonomy specialist at the Mississippi Entomological Museum who has studied invasive ant species.

The details

Tawny crazy ants spread when people transport them in potted plants and firewood, and when vehicles parked overnight in heavily infested areas carry them to new locations. The ants bite but do not sting or carry venom, and they crowd trees and the ground, competing with other organisms.

Tawny crazy ants have been established in the United States for nearly a century.

Seasonal Patterns

The tawny crazy ant has been documented in the United States for nearly a century, and the current super colony escalation extends that long-running presence into costly infestations. The documented record of their spread through potted plants and firewood shows how human transport has shaped their range over time.

Treatment of tawny crazy ant infestations requires cooperation among neighbors, since the ants spread through transported plants, firewood, and parked vehicles. Residents in affected areas should avoid moving potted plants and firewood into new locations and check vehicles parked overnight in infested areas.

The takeaway

Preventing spread depends on not moving infested plants, firewood, or vehicles into new areas. Neighbors who coordinate treatment are better positioned to contain the ants before they reach electrical equipment.