Southwest Florida's sandy soil and warm climate are close to ideal conditions for several aggressive ant species. Fire ants build large mounds in open lawns and can deliver painful, sometimes dangerous stings to people and pets. Ghost ants and Argentine ants form massive, fast-moving colonies that invade kitchens and bathrooms searching for moisture and food, often nesting in wall voids where store-bought sprays can't reach. Carpenter ants pose the most serious property risk, tunneling through moisture-damaged wood and, over time, compromising structural framing the way termites do. Treating only the ants you can see rarely solves the problem, since most species operate from a hidden central colony that keeps producing new workers.