Previous studies of interactions between imported fire ants and native ant species have addressed populations in open areas where imported fire ants reach their highest densities. Forest habitats harbor a different assemblage of ant species and interactions between imported fire ants and native ants in forests are occurring under different environmental conditions. We’ve asked two questions about the distribution of imported fire ants and native ant species in a Mississippi forest: 1) Is their distribution influenced by inter-specific competition or local environmental conditions? 2) How are the ant communities at locations with and without imported fire ants different? To answer these questions, hybrid imported fire ants and native ant species were collected at baits, along with the metrics for a set of local conditions, over a representative sample of forest habitats. Data were analyzed using a series of permutation tests comparing the observed characteristics of the ant community to those expected by random processes. The community of ant species collected at baits was not structured competitively and their distribution was strongly associated with the distribution of local conditions. The assemblage of ant species was different at locations with imported fire ants from the assemblage at locations without them, but the two groups of locations were equal in richness when samples were standardized by rarefaction.