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Animal profile

Argentine Ant

Linepithema humile

InsectaMesic disturbed habitats, riverbanks, irrigated gardens and urban areas with shallow opportunistic nests

Field profile

The Argentine ant is a small brown ant that has become one of the most damaging invasive insects worldwide. Introduced populations abandon the territorial aggression of their native range and form enormous cooperative networks. It displaces native ants wherever it establishes.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2026-07-08

Argentine Ant

One Argentine ant supercolony spans thousands of kilometres

Along the Mediterranean coast, workers taken from Portugal and from Italy do not fight when introduced to each other. Genetic and behavioural work indicates a single cooperative network running roughly 6,000 kilometres.

Read with evidence →

Argentine Ant | Daily Animal Facts