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A Guide to House-Invading Ants and Their Control
What Are The Most Common Types Of Ants That Will Invade My Home?
An ant invasion is a fairly common problem in most homes. These tiny creatures can find their way through the smallest of holes. That means that they have more ways of getting in than most other animals out there. With over ten thousand different species of ants in the world, it’s important to figure out which of them will usually cause you trouble.
Carpenter Ant
The carpenter ant is one of the most common ant species to invade your home. These ants can be found all throughout the world, including the US. As the name implies, these ants love wooden structures. In fact, they like to build their nests inside trees.
While this may resemble a termite, the carpenter ant is actually quite different. This is because, unlike the termite, carpenter ants don’t actually eat wood. They instead discard it and push it aside, which is why you’ll often find sawdust-like material near their nests. You should be wary of these ants because they can cause plenty of structural damage to your home.
Acrobat Ant
If you live in the Eastern United States, you should watch out for acrobat ants. These are some of the nastier invaders, as they’re known to bite and sting. These ants are pretty brave, and they’re known to hunt wasps and other insects while out in nature. They do this by using their venom, which can stun and paralyze their prey so the ants can finish them off.
If you ever run into these ants, you might notice that they walk funny. That’s because they raise their abdomens – the end part of their bodies – over their heads. Because their abdomens have a sharp end, this act makes them resemble a scorpion. Thus protecting them from predators, at the cost of looking silly and stumbling all over the place.
Black Garden Ant
The black garden ant is one of the most common home invaders in the world. In fact, they’re so common that they’ve earned the name “common black ant”. These ants are present worldwide. You can find them in Europe, South America, Asia, and even in the United States.
These ants are pretty small, at under a quarter of an inch in size. But what they lack in stature, they make up for with numbers. Their colonies can house a lot of ants, averaging at five thousand ants per nest.
These ants get pretty curious during the summer, which is when they’re most likely to stumble into your home. They use the warm summer months to explore and learn about their surroundings, as well as to find more food for their colony.
What About the Rest?
There are so many ants out there, that it’s impossible to discuss them all without writing a few volumes on the subject. While the carpenter, acrobat, and black garden ant are quite common, there are many other species who are just as likely to invade your home. Some of the other common invasive ants are odorous ants, Asian needle ants, and crazy ants.
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