Ants Territorial Question?

Question

If you put two colonies of ants (eg; red ants) in the same turf, would the colonies fight each other or would they just live harmonically as a larger colony?

Answer 1

Most ants will fight.  Some ants might take slaves but usually kill the adults.

Answer 2

Two colonies or nests of ants can live harmoniously in a small area; however, it really depends on the species of ants that are there.  If it was two colonies of a dominant ant, they would fight each other.  They are able to distinguish own colony ants to 'the others' by nest specific pheromones.

But if you had a colony of dominant species of ant and a colony of subordinate species, they could coexist quite happily.  Many species have various adaptations to be able to live with other more dominant or competitive ants.  For example, some ants are thermophilic and have special body characteristics that allow them to forage during the hottest parts of the day to avoid confrontation with dominant ants who cannot stand the heat.

However, a person putting two colonies together typically won't result in a large colony.  Although some species do have main nests and satellite nests a small distance away, these satellite nests were originally ants from the main nest, and not a separate nest or colony that has joined.  Hence, I'm not sure a man-made super-colony is possible.

Answer 3

I've actually seen first hand two ant colonies going at it and fighting for hours...