> What happened to red ants and why am I now seeing orange ants?

What happened to red ants and why am I now seeing orange ants?

Posted at: 2014-11-15 
I think it is possible the orange ants (Argentine?) replaced the red ants. Argentines are very small. Argentine ants here in California are everywhere and have taken over many native species.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argentine_a...

I couldn't open your link to the orange ants.

I was able to figure out how to open your site and they don't appear to be Argentines but perhaps they are also invaders

I live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When I was a kid in the 90s I spent a ton of time outdoors, and in my backyard I would always see an almost even mixture of both black ants (the big ones and the little ones) and red ants (the big ones and the little ones). It was only several years ago that I realized that I hadn't seen a single red ant in years. Literally not a single one. The black ants, however, are still around. Since then on several occasions I have seen little ORANGE ants, which I had NEVER seen before in my life, but I only ever see them if I turn over a large rock or dig into some moist soil, at which point they quickly flee back into the earth.

Black ants: http://thumb7.shutterstock.com/display_pic_with_logo/254068/254068,1320640560,5/stock-photo-black-ants-harvesting-on-aphids-extreme-close-up-with-high-magnification-and-shallow-depth-of-field-88243756.jpg

Red ants: http://6legs2many.files.wordpress.com/2010/10/solenopsis-invicta-ants.jpg

Orange ants: http://bugguide.net/images/cache/QKWKRK9K7KD0NQZSVQZSWQJ0NQZSUQZSWQY0XKF0UQOK5KY0UQJ05Q6KQKNKZKT0VQHS7K6K4QO05Q9KSKA05QD0HK.jpg

What on earth happened to the red ants and what are these new orange ants I'm finding?