|
|
Pharaoh Ant
 
Click to enlarge
|
Pharaoh
ants are small, yellow ants about 1/16-inch in length. They have two
nodes and look very similar to the thief ant. They are found throughout
the US, primarily in the southern states. Nest locations include wall
voids, cabinet voids, behind baseboards, window moldings, around
refrigerators and showers, boxes, and expansion joints in slabs. Their
colonies can grow quite large containing as many as 300,000 workers and
queens. New colonies are formed by a process called "budding"
This is when the colony grows so large that some workers take some of
the colony's brood to a new location. The control of Pharaoh ants can be
very difficult and may require special consultation. |
Crazy Ant
|
Click to enlarge
|
Crazy Ants are small, dark brown to black
ants which only have one node between the thorax and abdomen. They are
recognized by their extremely long legs and antennae. The crazy ant is
common in the southeastern US. They get their name from being known to
erratically run around aimless with no sense of direction. They will
nest in cracks, crevices, and voids inside and wander throughout the
structure searching for food. They prefer to eat animal matter, grease
and other insects, but will readily eat sweets. |
Argentine Ants
|
Click to enlarge
|
Argentine ants are known to be very small
and light to dark brown in color. It has a single node, shiny, and no
hairs on the abdomen. They are common throughout the southeastern USA
and is a problem in southern California. They nest outdoors under logs,
concrete slabs, mulch and even in the soil. They mostly are found
indoors in the winter months. They can be identified as trailing on
baseboards and along edges of carpet. Argentine ants mainly feed on
sweets and could enter into homes in large numbers depending on the
extreme conditions of moisture |
Ghost Ant
|
Click to enlarge
|
Ghost ants are hard to see because they are
so tiny and pale with one node. The front half is dark, the back half
and legs are light. They are mainly found in Florida and Hawaii. Ghost
ants usually nest outdoors, but they build colonies behind baseboards,
in wall voids, in cabinets of buildings where they find food feeding on
dead insects sweets and other foods.. |
Fire Ant
|
Click to enlarge
|
Fire ants have different sizes of workers
and two nodes. They are commonly four species of fire ants found mostly
in the southern states. They are known to be very aggressive as many
know and could cause harm and sometimes death to people. They usually
build mounds outdoors in sunny areas and are known to nest inside homes
as well. Mostly they are identified to be red but are sometimes darker
too. |
Odorous House Ant
|
Click to enlarge
|
Odorous House Ants are very
common pest throughout the US. Workers are small brownish-black in color
and range between 1/12 to 1/8 inch long. It can be recognized by when
crushing it, this ant gives off an unpleasant odor. Indoors these ants
nest in walls and in under floors. Outdoors they commonly build shallow
nest under boards and stones. It is most common to see these ants move
indoors during the cooler months. |
Thief Ant
|
Click to enlarge
|
Thief Ants are one of the smallest
species of ants known. They vary in color from yellow to dirty brown,
and have a two segmented antennal club. They are found all over the US.
Thief ants get their name because they often live in nest of larger ants
where they may feed on the larvae of their host. They are primarily
known to be grease feeding ants. They will forge inside and sometimes be
found trailing on baseboards looking for foods and to nest in wall
voids. |
PCT ant guide and courtesy of Van Waters and
Rogers.
Truman's scientific guide to Pest Control
Operations
|
