Imported fire ants spread through natural and artificial means. Artificial means include (1) mated queens or colonies are transported via infested sod, hay, beehives or nursery stock and (2) newly mated queens are transported by vehicles on which they’ve landed. This is why certain items likely to harbor fire ants, including nursery stock, sod, and hay must be certified as fire ant-free before they are sold outside the fire ant quarantine area. Fire ants are dispersed naturally when newly mated queens fly or are blown into new areas; rafts or balls of flooded colonies float to new areas; or new colonies “bud off,” the process by which fire ant colonies with more than one queen start new colonies. Entire colonies can also move from one location to another when the colonies are disturbed, but in these cases they generally don't move very far. Winged fire ant queens can fly quite a distance on their own. Studies have shown that distance to be limited to 3 miles or less, based on their energy reserves. When blown by wind currents, winged fire ants can travel much greater distances.

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