In the New Mexico desert, a series of bizarre and unexplainable incidents begins to unfold, drawing the attention of the local police and the FBI. When a vacationing FBI agent and a local police sergeant investigate a wrecked trailer home, they discover evidence of a monstrous perpetrator, far beyond human size and strength. Their investigation leads them to a young girl in shock, the daughter of the trailer's owners, who is unable to speak due to her trauma. As the authorities delve deeper, plagued by strange noises and evidence of a massive creature, they confront the reality that they are dealing with a threat that defies their understanding of the natural world.

Collaborating with scientists from the Department of Agriculture, the team unravels clues that point to a nightmarish conclusion: the desert is home to giant ants, mutated by the radiation from nuclear tests conducted in the area. These monstrous insects are not only highly aggressive but are also breeding rapidly, posing an imminent threat to national, if not global, security. A frantic race against time ensues as military forces join the effort to track down and destroy the nest of these gigantic predators before they can spread further, threatening the very fabric of civilization with an unprecedented ecological disaster.