Odorous House Ant (AKA: Sugar Ants, Little Black Ants)
These ants are about 1/8-inch (3 mm) long. Color: Dark brown or black.
These ants are most easily identified by the coconut or turpentine odor
produced when their bodies are crushed. This odor gives this ant its
name. Geographic Range: The odorous house ant is found throughout North
America. Habitat: These ants nest outdoors under items on the ground,
within landscape mulch, beneath loose bark on trees, under ground
cover, in potted plants, and within piles of items, such as lumber,
firewood, or bricks. Nests may readily be established inside homes, in
walls, beneath carpeting, and other suitable voids or spaces. Food:
Odorous house ants forage both night and day and eat many types of
foods. They eat live and dead insects but are also very attracted to
sweet foods. They especially like the honeydew that is produced by
aphids and mealybugs. Many colonies of odorous house ants tend or herd
aphids and mealybugs to collect the honeydew they excrete. Biology:
Odorous house ants may develop huge colonies containing thousands of
workers and numerous queens. This species may be difficult to control
and does not feed much on ant baits. The keys to control are to find
the colonies and subcolonies and treat them directly. Regular
inspections and service are necessary to find and treat new colonies as
they move in from neighboring properties.
Carpenter Ants:
1. Modoc : all black. (Legs may have a rusty red color) One queen in
parent nest.
2. Vicinus : black head, rusty red thorax (mid section) and black
abdomen
(tail section.) Multiple queens in parent nest.
Most carpenter ant species have other similar characteristics.
Five Sizes : Carpenter ants can be as small as one quarter inch or as
large as three quarters of an inch. All sizes can be found in one nest.
Most Carpenter Ant species establish their initial nest in decayed
wood, but, once established, the ants extend their tunneling into sound
wood and can do considerable damage to a structure.
These species commonly nest in standing trees (living or dead), in
stumps, or in logs on the forest floor. Since many houses are being
built in forested areas, well established, vigorous colonies are
readily available in the immediate vicinity to attack these dwellings.
This is especially true when the homeowner insists that the home be
built with a minimal removal of trees.
Carpenter Ants typically have a parent colony in outside nesting areas,
such as live or dead trees, stumps, logs or decorative landscape wood.
When the colony grows larger and needs room to expand satellite
colonies are established. These satellite colonies often develop in
nearby structures presumably because they offer warm protection.
Only the parent colony contains the queen(s), young larvae and workers,
while the satellite contains the mature larvae, pupae, workers, and/or
winged reproductives. Ants move back and forth from parent nest to
satellite nest but just a few ( less than 10 % ) will be visible
foraging for food.
Sometimes they can be seen moving mature larvae (white and grub-like)
or pupae (papery cocoons).
Ants are generally active along ant trails from April to mid-October.
These trails follow natural contours and lines of least resistance and
also frequently cut across lawns. Traffic on these trails may be
noticeable during the day, but peak traffic occurs after sunset and
continues throughout the night.
The parent colony is often located in a tree, stump, stacked wood
within 100 meters of the house or wood and stumps buried in the yard
when the house was constructed. Decorative wood landscape ties brought
in to enhance the beauty of a yard or driveway may also be the source
of a parent colony. The colony does not produce reproductives (winged
males and queens) until it is from 3 to 6 years old and contains about
2,000 workers. The natural food for these ants consists of insects and
other arthropods and sweet exudates from aphids and insects. They are
also attracted to other sweet material such as decaying fruits.
Reproductive carpenter ants ( winged males and females ) leave the nest
as early as January if the nest is in a heated structure. Those living
outside in logs and stumps will not swarm until about early May. The
fertilized queens must then find wet wood to establish a new nest, and
the cycle starts over again.
The new queen could live 15 years or more and lay 70,000 fertilized
eggs.
A Little Info About Ants