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ANTS
Ants are pests around the home because they feed on and contaminate human foods, infest structures, and build unsightly mounds in lawns. In some cases, ants are able to inflict painful bites or stings. Ants do not attack or eat fabrics, leather or wood in houses; however, some species can establish nests in decaying wood in structures.
Several species of ants are found in or around houses in Florida. In general, the most common ants can be grouped as house-infesting ants, yard-infesting ants, and carpenter ants. The most commonly encountered pest ants are pharaoh, ghost, carpenter, native fire, imported fire, crazy, thief, big-headed, and acrobat ants.
IDENTIFICATION
Ants can be recognized from other insects because they have a narrow waist (pedicel) with one or two joints (nodes) between the thorax and abdomen. Also, ants have elbowed antennae. Winged reproductives have four wings with the first pair being much larger in size than the hind pair.
Ants are frequently confused with termites. However, termites have a broad waist between the thorax and the abdomen. Termite reproductives have four wings of equal size.
Acrobat ant
Acrobat ants are black, 3 mm long, and hold their abdomens over their heads when disturbed. They usually nest outdoors in dead wood, tree holes and firewood, but can nest in wall voids and insulation. They crawl into buildings around windows and electric cables. |
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Argentine ant
It is usually dark brown and 2 to 3 mm long. It usually nests in exposed or covered soil (under logs, debris, firewood, and mulch). The ant forages in trails of many workers along sidewalks and foundations and into buildings, where they forage for food. The ant has one node on the petiole. |
Bigheaded ant
Workers are either major and minor workers; major workers have very large heads. They nest in the soil under logs, mulch, firewood, and next to the foundation of buildings. They often trail along sidewalks and the sides of buildings. They often forage indoors for food and water. The ant is yellowish-brown and 2 to 3 mm long. |
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Crazy ant
It is black and 3 mm long, with long legs, and workers move erratically. Colonies are usually found in both moist and dry environments. Outdoors, nests are often in wood, tree holes and in mulch. Indoors, nests are often in wall voids and under stored items. |
Carpenter ant
It is a large ant, 5 to 10 mm long, with a yellowish-red thorax and black abdomen. It nests in mulch, logs and in wall voids of houses. It can hollow out wood in order to make its nest, depositing wood pieces nearby. |
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Ghost ant
This ant is 1 mm long, with a black head and thorax and clear abdomen and legs. It usually nests outdoors and forages indoors. The ant has a musty odor when squashed. It has a high need for moisture and is often seen in kitchens and bathrooms. |
Imported fire ant
It is reddish brown and 3 to 6 mm long. Fire ants build large mounds in open, sunny areas and can forage indoors. Workers can sting, commonly causing a white pustule to form. |
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Little fire ant
It is golden brown and 1 to 2 mm long. It nests in the soil under logs and debris. It can inflict a painful sting. |
Native fire ant
It is reddish brown to black and 3 to 6 mm long. It builds irregular, crater-shaped mounds in sunny areas. Workers can sting, but no white pustule forms. They can inflict a painful sting when disturbed |
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Pharaoh ant
It is rust colored and 2 mm long. It usually nests indoors (in wall voids, refrigerator insulation, books, etc.). |
BIOLOGY
Ants are social insects. Three castes (workers, queens, and males) can be found in most colonies.
Queens
Queens normally have wings but lose them after mating. The primary function of the queen is reproduction; however, in some of the more highly specialized ants the queen cares for and feeds the first brood of workers on her salivary secretions.
The queen may live for many years and is usually replaced by a daughter queen. Depending on the species, ants can have one or more queens.
Males
The male is usually winged and retains its wings until death. The sole function of the male is to mate with an unfertilized female reproductive. After mating occurs, the male dies.
Males are produced in old or very large colonies where there is an abundance of food. After reaching maturity, the male usually doesn't remain in the colony very long.
Worker
Worker ants, which are sterile females, are seldom winged. They often are extremely variable in size and appearance within a given species.
The function of the worker is to construct, repair, and defend the nest; and feed the immature and adult ants of the colony, including the queen, and are for the brood. Workers feed the colony.
Growth
Ants have an egg, larva, pupa, and adult stage. Eggs are almost microscopic in size and hatch into soft legless larvae. Larvae are fed by workers on predigested, regurgitated food. Most larvae are fed liquids, although some older larvae are able to chew and swallow solids. The pupa resembles the adult except that it is soft, uncolored and immobile. In many ant species the pupa is in a cocoon spun by the larva. Six weeks to 2 months are required for development from egg to adult in some species.
New Colonies
Ants establish new colonies by two main methods:
flights of winged reproductives and budding.
The most common method is for male and female reproductives to leave the nest on mating flights. The mated queen constructs a cavity or cell and rears a brood unaided by workers. The small first brood workers then forage for food. The colony grows in size and numbers as more young are produced.
Budding occurs when one or more queens leave the nest accompanied by workers who aid in establishing and caring for the new colony.
Difficult Species
Some of the most difficult ant species to control spread colonies by budding.
Pharaoh ants, some kinds of fire ants, ghost ants, and Argentine ants spread colonies by budding.
FOOD PREFERENCES
Most ants eat a wide variety of foods, although some have specialized tastes.
Pharaoh ants feed on sugars, proteins, oils and insects.
Crazy ants like sugars, protein, and insects;
Carpenter ants prefer sugars and insects.
Ants locate food by random searching. When a scouting ant finds promising food, she carries it or a piece of it back to the nest. Any workers she meets on the way become excited and rush toward the nest. The means of communication is unknown, but some ants leave scent trails that others can follow to the food source. Ants require water and will travel some distance for it if necessary. Workers are able to bring water to the colony in their stomachs.
Inspection
Nest Location
Location of the nest is the key to control because ants are social insects. Large numbers of individual ants can be killed without ever solving the problem. Determine the kind of ant species. Most species of ants never enter buildings; others build their nest near buildings and forage indoors. Others usually nest indoors.
Keep a record of where ants have been seen. Some ants follow definite trails. If possible, follow these trails to the nest. Placement of attractive materials, such as jelly, oils, protein, and other materials can attract large numbers of ants so they can be followed to their nest.
Find the ant nest by watching the movements of ants. Often children like to watch ants and can be very useful in tracing their trails.
Outdoors, ant nests can often be located by seeing ant hills on the ground. Some ants deposit earth on the soil surface when they construct the nest. Fire ants and certain other ants build conspicuous mounds. Nests may also be constructed next to or under the house foundation, under sidewalks, driveways and patios, or in decaying logs or tree trunks.
Indoors, ants may nest in walls, behind a baseboard, or under the house. Often ant trails enter or walk through a crack but the nest may be some distance away. Some ants may also nest in decayed or rotting wood in the house.
CONTROL
Prevention
The best approach to ant control in the home is cleanliness. Any type of food or food particles can attract and provide food for ants. Store food in tight containers. Remove plants that can attract ants or control aphids, whiteflies and other insects that produce honeydew. Reduce moisture sources, including condensation and leaks
Chemical Control
Chemical control of ants can be applied as barrier treatments, drench treatments, nest treatments, and bait treatments. Sprays, dusts, granules, and baits are formulations of insecticides useful in ant control.
Barrier treatment is to prevent outdoor nesting species from foraging indoors or cut off an indoor nest from food and water sources. Barrier treatments should be applied to baseboards, door and window frames, around chimneys, cracks and crevices, around sinks and toilets, and between walls and flooring. Treat areas where ants have trails and move into or through the house. Sprays can be applied as barrier treatments. Micro encapsulated (for commercial pest control operators) or wetable powder formulations usually are the best formulations to use because they can be tracked back to the nest by returning workers. Barrier treatments can cause colony splitting of species that reproduce by budding (for instance, Pharaoh ant, Argentine ant, and ghost ant).
Drench treatments
This method is useful for the control of mound dwelling species outdoors. For instance, fire ant colonies near homes can be destroyed by pouring drenches on the mounds.
Nest treatments are the most effective way of controlling ants. If the nest is located, apply an insecticide to the nest. If the nest cannot be located, pay particular attention to places where ants are gaining access to the house or room. Dusts are the best formulation for this type of control because they can be puffed into wall voids that contain ant nests. They will provide the longest residual control in dry areas and can be tracked into the nest by foraging ants.
Bait
Bait treatments are effective for control of many ant species if the baits are consumed by the ants. Ant baits are labeled for residential and commercial use. They are enclosed in a childproof plastic tray and are broadly labeled for many ant species.
Carpenter Ants
These ants get their common name from their habit of hollowing out galleries of wood for nesting purposes. These ants are large reddish-brown insects to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch long.
The presence of a carpenter ant nest is sometimes indicated by a rustling sound coming from wall voids or from wood where the colony is located.
These nesting habits result in structural damage. Carpenter ants prefer to nest in wood that has been damaged by termites or decay.
They usually nest outdoors in stumps and logs where the wood contacts the soil and moisture is plentiful. These ants do not eat wood (as is the case with termites) but excavate galleries in it to rear their young.
Although carpenter ants do not sting their bites can be quite painful, especially when they inject formic acid into the wound.
These ants primarily feed on insect honeydew, plant and fruit juices, insects and other arthropods, but sometimes enter homes in search of food, water or nesting sites.
They enter buildings around door and window frames, eves, plumbing and utility lines and shrubs and tree branches in contact with the building.
Most of the activity is from dusk to dawn with the peak between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.
These ants can be extremely prolific in reproduction. It is very important if the ants are sighted that "ONLY" professional pest control professional handle the control.
Imported Fire Ants
Imported fire ants are aggressive, reddish brown to black ants that are 1/8"to 1/4"Iong. They construct nests which are often visible as dome shaped mounds of soil, sometimes as large as 3 feet across and 1 1/2 feet in height. In sandy soils, mounds are flatter and less visible.
Fire ants usually build mounds in sunny, open areas such as lawns, pastures, cultivated fields, and meadows, but they are not restricted to these areas. Mounds or nests may be located in rotting logs, around trees and stumps, under pavement and buildings, and occasionally indoors.
When their nests are disturbed, numerous fire ants will quickly run out of the mound and attack any intruder.
These ants are notorious for their painful, burning sting that results in a pustule and intense itching, which may persist for ten days.
Infections may occur if pustules are broken. Some people have allergic reactions to fire ant stings that range from rashes and swelling to paralysis, or anaphylactic shock. In rare instances, severe allergic reactions cause death.
In addition to stinging humans, imported fire ants can sting pets, livestock, and wildlife. Crop losses are also reported due to fire ants feeding on seedlings and even citrus trees. Harvesting machinery used on farms can be damaged by hitting hard fire ant mounds -often found in clay soils.
Electrical equipment and utility housings may serve as fire ant nest sites, sometimes resulting in short circuits.
The term imported fire ants generally refers to two species of ants:
the black imported fire ant, and the red imported fire ant
The red imported fire ant entered the United States probably in the 1930's. It was most likely introduced with cargo or in the soil used as ballast in ships from South America that were unloaded in the Mobile area. In the 1940's and early 1950's the red imported fire ant spread to Florida and other southern states in nursery stock and sod.
To limit the spread of imported fire ants, a federal quarantine restricts the movement of soil, potted plants, plants with soil attached, grass sod, hay, and used soil-moving equipment to un infested areas of, the United States. These items must be certified that they are free from infestation. While there are no restrictions on the movement of regulated articles within Florida and other quarantine areas, any shipments outside the quarantine areas require inspection and certification from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Division of Plant Industry .
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