Fire ant queens. Even if only one queen survives, within a month or so, the colony can expand to thousands of individuals. Some colonies may be polygynous (having multiple queens per nest). Fire ants are resilient and can survive floods. During Hurricane Harvey in Texas in 2017, clumps of fire ants, known as rafts, were seen clumped together on the surface of the water. Each clump had as many as 100,000 individual ants, which formed a temporary structure until finding a new permanent home. Fire ant queens, the reproductive females in their colony, also are generally the largest. Their primary function is
Ant-keeping local insects causing ant wars that could cause injury to humans and animals. Ant keepers may choose to keep ants in captivity for the purpose of documenting ant behavior (in the case of an ant species which is difficult to observe in the wild). This field of study is called Myrmecology. Ant keepers may also choose to keep ants as a casual hobby, as pets. There are differing methods of starting, caring for, and housing an ant colony. A fertilized ant queen can be bought, provided that the seller is from your area and that you are buying a native