The pharaoh ant is a species that I have not personally run across in many years, but which is still considered a major indoor pest in the United States. (http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/ants/pharaoh_ant.htm) Its generic name is Monomorium pharaonis (L). Its common name arose from the belief that perhaps this species was one of the seven plagues visited
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Common names don’t always adequately describe the species they represent, but the common name for the ant species Tapinoma sessile is right on the money. Odorous house ant gets its name from the odd smelling odor it gives off when crushed. It has been described as smelling like bad coconut. I’m not sure about that
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Q: Just this week we started seeing lethargic black ants in our bathroom and kitchen. The ants were different sizes; some were fairly small while some where quite large. They seemed to be sort of looking around for something. Could they be carpenter ants, and what could they be looking for, I thought carpenter ants
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It Is always an odd thing to get carpenter ant complaint calls during the winter time, but after several mild spells from late December (Christmas day temperature hit about 60) right through this past weekend with what was like a tropical rain event they can wake up. This week I was summoned to investigate and
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That is probably what it means. When you have ants in your house on a regular basis, there are two possibilities: (1) the ants are nesting outside and are just entering your house looking for food, or (2) the ants are nesting inside and are foraging in your house looking for food. In either case,
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Carpenter ants don’t eat wood but they use their jaws to tear wood pieces out when they are creating their galleries inside. They are very fastidious ants and like to keep clean galleries so they are constantly pushing accumulated debris out of their living space. They cut little slits in the wood that they use as “dump” sites. Below these slits, you might find a little pile that looks like sawdust. If you look at a carpenter ant’s dump pile under magnification, you will see that it is made up of wood shavings plus insect parts, dead ants, bits of seeds, and maybe bits of soil or insulation
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In Europe, European fire ants start new colonies with reproductive flights. However, in the U.S., the ants seem to be spread primarily by man, through transportation of infested plants, mulch, or soil. Existing colonies also reproduce by “budding,” when a queen, some workers, and brood simply pick up and move to a new site.
A few years ago, several yards in a Cambridge, Massachusetts neighborhood were invaded by fire ants. The ants were found in areas where children were playing, in the gardens, and under decks, and were reported to be spreading aggressively. It’s believed that this localized infestation was started when a neighbor brought infested hostas home from Maine.
VIEW MOREVelvet ants aren’t seen very often and they aren’t seen in large numbers since they are solitary wasps without a colony. The even rarer male velvet ant has wings and looks similar to the female, but he can’t sting. Velvet ants are parasites on other bees and wasps. The female lays her eggs in the pupal cocoons of ground-nesting bees or wasps. Her hatching larvae then feed on the pupae of their close relatives.
VIEW MORELike termites, carpenter ants can destroy the wood in your home. They don’t eat the wood, but they can hollow it out to make room for their nest galleries. Carpenter ants prefer to nest in wood that is damp or that has been softened by rot, but they can also move into perfectly dry wood.
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