ANTS
Ants are identified by having three distinct body regions: head, thorax, and abdomen. They also have an antenna, and the reproductive members are winged. Ants are common household pests throughout the United States. These pests live and work together in organized colonies, making them difficult to control.
Some of the most common species of ants include the following:
Argentine Ants
Argentine ants are an invasive species originally native to Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and southern Brazil. Today, Argentine ants are seen throughout the southern states, California and Hawaii. Argentine ants have been very successful in urban areas and nest in different types of habitats. They produce large numbers of offspring and survive on a wide variety of food. They often live on friendly terms with neighboring colonies of the same species but may eliminate other ant species. You can find more information via the link on the Argentine ant.
Characteristics
Size: 1/16” – 1/4 “
Color: Dark brown to black; shiny
Habits: Argentine ants travel 200 feet or more, with thousands of ants trailing each other from the nest to a food source. They prefer sweets and honeydew-producing insects i.e. aphids
Outdoors, Argentine ants nest in moist areas under debris (logs, concrete slabs, trash, and mulch) and waste (rotten wood, rotten areas in trees, refuse piles, bird nests, beehives, and other places). They can form nests in exposed or covered soil. Argentine ants can form nests under homes and even within the home, especially if their outdoor habitat is disturbed.
Indoors, Argentine ants crawl on or in every imaginable place, such as stoves, refrigerators, shelves, beds, and clothing. In addition, argentine ants often look for moisture on water pipes, dishwashers, or other wet locations.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants get their name because of how they build their nests; similar to termites, they excavate the wood to form smooth tunnels inside the wood; however, carpenter ants do not feed on wood; they only tunnel and chew through wood to create nests for the colony.
The western black carpenter ant colony, when fully developed, can have about 10-20,000 workers, with larger colonies up to 50,000 ants with one functional, wingless queen per colony. Swarmers produce when the ant colony is more than two years old. Swarmers appear from May until August in the eastern United States and from February through June in the west. You can find more information via the link for carpenter ants.
Characteristics
Size: 5/8 “
Color: Usually red, black, or a combination
Habit: Carpenter ants are wood-destroying pests and will eat other insects. Adult carpenter ants favor the sweet honeydew that plant-feeding insects like aphids, scales, and mealybugs produce. Carpenter ants can be tough to control. They make up one of the largest species of property-invading ants living throughout the U.S.
Fire Ants
Red imported fire ants (RIFAs) are known to inflict painful bites and stings on anything that disturbs the colony. These dark reddish-brown ants are an invasive species found throughout the United States. You can find more information via the link for fire ants.
Characteristics
Size: Up to 1/8 and 3/8 inch long
Color: Dark Reddish Brown
Habits: Fire ants are known for being highly aggressive pests. They swarm together to attack any animal or person that comes into close contact with their nest. Easily identified by their large, flat, irregular-shaped nests that they create in open, sunny areas, your yard is a place that they commonly invade.
Odorous House Ants
Odorous house ants, when crushed, give off a strong, rotten coconut-like smell. These tiny brown ants range in size from one-sixteenth of an inch to one-eighth of an inch long. You can find more information via the link on odorous house ants.
Characteristics
Size: 1/16 “ – 1/8”
Color: Brown or Black
Habits: Odorous house ants like to eat sweets and honeydew from plant-eating insects. In response to rain, they will relocate their nests to protect the colony.
Indoors, odorous house ants nest near sources, such as wall voids near hot water pipes, heaters, leaky fixtures, and wood damaged by termites.
Outside, odorous house ants are found in exposed soil or near stacks of firewood.
Odorous house ants are tiny ants that range from brown to black and look very similar to most other ant species. The best way to identify this species from others is by its smell; as their name suggests, odorous house ants produce a foul odor when crushed like a rotten coconut.
Pavement Ant
Pavement ants get their name because they nest in or under cracks in the pavement. These dark brown to black ants also infest structures. You can find more information via the link for pavement ants.
Characteristics
Size: 1/8”
Color: Dark Brown to Blackish
Habits: These black ants eat practically anything. Pavement ants feed on insects, seeds, honeydew, honey, and almost any type of food. They scavenge in trails for distances of up to 30 feet and climb masonry walls that enter into occupied areas.
Pharaoh Ants
Pharaoh ants get their name from the belief that they were one of the plagues of ancient Egypt. This species is thought to be native to Africa and is currently found throughout the United States. You can find more information via the link on Pharaoh ants.
Characteristics
Size: 1/16” (1.5 – 2.0 mm)
Color: Body pale, varying from yellowish to reddish with abdomen often darker to black
Habits: Pharaoh ant colonies are large, with thousands of workers. When disturbed, members of the colony will migrate to new locations to establish several new colonies through budding. Pharaoh ants eat a variety of food sources, including sweets, oils, and proteins. They will also eat other dead insects.
Theft Ants
Thief ants are among one of the smallest common household ants. Thief ants get their name from their tendency to nest close to, or even sometimes inside, other ants' nests, which they rob of food and brood (larvae and pupae). Thief ants are often mistaken for pharaoh ants, although they differ in characteristics. Because they love greasy foods and sweets, thief ants are referred to as "grease ants" or "sugar ants" We find this ant species throughout most of the United States. You can find more information via the link for thief ants.
Characteristics
Size: 1.5 mm – 2.2 mm long – one of the smallest household ant species
Color: Pale yellowish to light or dark brown
Habits: Thief ants gain entry through household cracks, holes, and open doors. Once inside, thief ants nest in small cracks and crevices around the home, using the wires in wall spaces to travel from room to room. They enter structures searching for water and greasy, protein-rich food, such as nuts, bread, meats, fruits, oils, and dairy products when it’s hot outside.
They nest in soil or under objects, trash, rotten wood, and tree cavities. They will feed on almost anything organic, including but not limited to mealybugs, dead or alive insects, and seeds.