Argentine ant
(Linepithema humile)
Food: sweets, sometimes proteins.
Nest: outdoors in shallow mounds. |
1/8 inch, dull brown |
|
Carpenter ant
(Camponotus spp.)
Food: sweets.
Nest: in tree stumps, firewood,
fence posts, hollow doors or window
frames; deposit sawdustlike frass
outside of nests. |
Large, 1/4 to 1/2 inch, black or
bicolored red or black |
|
Odorous house ant
(Tapinoma sessile)
Food: sweets, sometimes proteins.
Nest: in shallow mounds in soil
or debris, or indoors in wall voids,
around water pipes or heaters. |
1/8 inch, dark brown to shiny black;
very strong odor when crushed |
|
Velvety tree ant
(Liometopum occidentale)
Food: sweets and insects.
Nest: in dead wood such as old
tree limbs, stumps, and logs. |
1/8 to 1/4 inch, brownish-black head,
red thorax, and velvety black abdomen;
very distinct odor when crushed |
|
|
Pavement ant
(Tetramorium caespitum)
Food: sweets, proteins, grease.
Nest: in lawns or under stones,
boards; build mounds along sidewalks,
foundations, and near water. |
3/16 inch, dark brown to black |
|
Pharaoh ant
(Monomorium pharaonis)
Food: fats, proteins, sweets.
Nest: in wall or cabinet voids,
behind baseboards, or insulation or
outdoors in debris. |
1/16
inch, yellow or honeycolored to orange |
|
Red imported fire ant
(Solenopsis invicta)
Food: sweets, proteins.
Nest: in mounds with multiple
openings in soil or lawns and
sometimesin buildings behind wall voids. |
1/16 to 1/5 inch, reddish with dark
brown abdomen |
|
Southern fire ant
(Solenopsis xyloni)
Food: proteins and
sweets.
Nest: in small mounds with
flattened irregular craters in wood,
under rocks. |
1/8 to 1/4 inch, amber head and thorax
with black abdomen, body covered with
golden hairs |
|
Thief ant
(Solenopsis molesta)
Food: greasy and fatty foods,
sometimes sweets. Steal food and ant
larvae from other ant nests.
Nest: outdoors in soil, under
rocks or decaying wood or indoors behind
wallboards or baseboards. |
1/32 inch, yellow to light brown |
|
|
Effective
management approaches vary with ant species. Use behavioral
characteristics such as food and nesting preferences along with
physical characteristics to identify ants. A first step in
identifying ants is to use a magnifier to determine if they have
one or two nodes at the petiole of their abdomen. Locate the
petiole, the first portion of the abdomen, and count the number
of nodes present.
