Argentine ant is a 3-star species card from the Steam Age. Argentine ants form supercolonies of connected nests that don't fight each other.
Bonus by grade
| Grade | Copies needed | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Common | 0 | +2% to all cards of its family |
| Uncommon | 2 | +3.6% to all cards of its family |
| Rare | 5 | +6% to all cards of its family |
| Epic | 10 | +9% to all cards of its family |
| Legendary | 20 | +14% to all cards of its family |
Duplicates raise the grade: Uncommon at 2, Rare at 5, Epic at 10, Legendary at 20.
Codex
- Common: Linepithema humile comes from South America.
- Uncommon: A supercolony in Europe stretches about 6,000 km along the coast.
- Rare: Supercolonies in Europe, the USA and Japan seem to be one big family.
- Epic: They push out native ants, which harms plants that need ants to spread seeds.
- Legendary: Argentine ants have many queens in each nest.
Field notes are reviewed regularly. Spot something wrong? Tell us.
Field guide
| Size | Workers about 2–3 mm; queens about 4.5–5 mm |
| Colony | Huge supercolonies; single nests can start with about ten workers |
| Queens | Many queens per nest; new nests bud off from old ones |
| Nest | Shallow nests in soil, under logs and rocks, in pavement cracks and in buildings |
| Diet | Mostly honeydew from aphids and scale insects, plus insects, nectar and sweets |
| Defence | No sting; mainly a nuisance around homes and gardens |
| Active | Mostly by day; sluggish in cold weather and stops foraging |
| Lifespan | Workers about 10–12 months; queens often culled by workers in spring |
| Where it lives | Native to northern Argentina and nearby countries; now on every continent except Antarctica |
Did you know?
- Workers often kill most of the queens each spring, at around ten months old.
- Cold and very dry weather limit where it can live.
- It spreads mostly through shipping of cargo, potted plants and soil.
Sources: columbia.edu, animaldiversity.org
Codex sets
- Ants of the machine ages: Bullet ant, Argentine ant, Pharaoh ant, Yellow crazy ant, Odorous house ant, Ghost ant, Mangrove ant, Spider ant, European fire ant, Red harvester ant, Longhorn crazy ant, Little fire ant, Exploding ant, Acacia ant, Azteca ant, Indian jumping ant
Queen affinity
- Black garden ant: ×1 chance
- Meat ant: ×0.6 chance
- Bull ant: ×0.6 chance