Yard overrun with apparently new kind of ant - poison feeds? them!

Springfield, IL

Been living here almost 20 years and never seen this. These ants are small and reddish colored, but build big mounds. I call them 'mound builders', but no idea what kind of ant it is. We've had merciless tropical heat the past month here in C. Illinois, but things finally cooled off this week.

They're rapidly spreading all over the yard, so fast its alarming. Probably 20 mounds or more now, they're literally everywhere. I put Terro Liquid Ant bait out in about 12 places, and for the life of me it looks like things exploded afterwards.
The main triple-mound got considerably bigger a week after the poison went out, and now I see strings of hills in the yard, 5 or 6 in a row. Its almost as if they're feeding on the Terro, but that can't make sense.
Also- there appear to be two more big mounds in the back alley too.

I envision them inunndating the house as soon as they run out of food, or the weather turns colder.

What the heck are these, and what to do? Is there a more effective way to kill an ant nest than these baits, because they clearly aren't working.

Thumbnail by jeffpas Thumbnail by jeffpas Thumbnail by jeffpas Thumbnail by jeffpas Thumbnail by jeffpas
Springfield, IL


New problems!
'Winged' ones have now appeared, including one that was giant sized.
The mounds are literally teeming. What the heck are these things??

Thumbnail by jeffpas Thumbnail by jeffpas
Minot, ND

The 'giant sized one is a queen ant; the winged ones are males. After mating the queen will try to establish a new colony. I don't know if this will help, but I found this advice on another forum:
"I went online to Do Your Own Pest Control and purchased a container of Extinguish Plus. I sprinkled a small amount around each ant mound and watched the ants haul them into their mound. I have not had any ants for over 6 months."

Springfield, IL

I have "take it back to the queen" bait traps all over the place, and can't decide if I should try destroying the colonies (by pouring hot water, or whatever) or wait for the bait to work. I've opted to wait for the bait.
Another option apparently is dumping Diatomaceous Earth on the mounds, but again I think that will just cause them to poke out somewhere else and move (and possibly, into the house even).
Leave 'em be, and wait has been my approach. But it seems like they're multiplying not dying..

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