Pavement Ant

Identification

Pavement ants are small, dark brown to black ants that can be a nuisance in your home or business. They are named pavement ants because they often nest under sidewalks, building slabs, and large rocks. They can also enter your structure through cracks in the foundation walls and interior slabs. They are attracted to any kind of food or sweets, and they can contaminate your food or cause allergic reactions.

Pavement ants:

Vary in color from dark brown to black
2.5-4.0 mm long
Swarmers or reproductive ants are winged and twice the size of a worker ant
The spines on the thorax are evident on females but absent on males
Pavement Ants have 2 nodes and a stinger
Antenna: 12 segments with a 3 segmented club
Grooves are found on the head and thorax

Lifecycle

Pavement ants have a complete metamorphosis, which means they go through four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Their lifecycle from egg to adult takes 2-3 months. Here is a brief overview of each stage:

Egg: The queen ant lays her eggs and burrows into the soil to start a new colony.
Larva: The larva stage lasts for about a month. The larvae are fed by the worker ants and grow rapidly.
Pupa: The pupa stage lasts for about two weeks. The pupae are white and immobile and look like grains of rice. They transform into adult ants inside their cocoons.
Adult: The adult ants emerge from their cocoons and join the colony. They can live for several months or years.

Pavement ants live in colonies that range from 50 ants and up. The colonies typically have one queen that births the workers and reproductive ants. The workers are the ones that forage for food, feed the larvae, and defend the colony. The reproductive ants are the ones that mate and start new colonies.

Pavement ants usually swarm in the spring but can also swarm in the winter if the nest is located very close to the foundation. Swarming is when winged ants emerge from their nests and fly away to mate and establish new colonies.

Habitat and Behavior

Pavement ants can be found both indoors and outdoors. They prefer moist and warm environments with access to food and water sources. Here are some of the places where you can find them:

In nature: They are found in any land that has low foot or machine traffic, such as near pavement or some type of cement or rock. They also like to be located near a water source or near areas where there is honeydew (a sugary substance produced by aphids and other insects).
In a structure: They are attracted to any kind of food or sweets, such as sugar, nectar, fruits, syrups, grease, dead insects, small seeds, or basically any food particle that falls on the floor. They can also be found in areas with heat and moisture, such as in the basement, kitchen, or bathrooms.

Pavement ants usually nest underground, and the entrances are where the piles of sand-like particles are located. These piles are just soil particles that the ants have excavated out of their nests. They can also nest in insulation and sub floors.

Pavement ants are not very active in the winter due to cold temperatures. However, nests that were built under heated structures can remain active all winter long.

Pavement ants put down pheromone trails when they find a food source, so they are often seen trailing from one area to the food source and back. They can also communicate with each other by using sounds or vibrations.

How to Prevent and Control Pavement Ants

Reduce any food sources and keep all counters and floors clean. Always wipe up any spills or crumbs and store your food in sealed containers with lids.
Dispose of your garbage regularly and keep it away from your structure.
Seal any cracks or gaps around your doors, windows, pipes, or wires. This will block the entry points for the ants.
Hire a professional pest control service like Kwik Kill Pest Control if the infestation is severe or persistent. They can use more effective and safe methods to eliminate the ants and their nests.

Reduce any food sources and keep all counters and floors clean. Always wipe up any spills or crumbs and store your food in sealed containers with lids.
Dispose of your garbage regularly and keep it away from your structure.
Seal any cracks or gaps around your doors, windows, pipes, or wires. This will block the entry points for the ants.
Hire a professional pest control service like Kwik Kill Pest Control if the infestation is severe or persistent. They can use more effective and safe methods to eliminate the ants and their nests.

Fun Facts

Pavement ant stingers can’t penetrate human skin, so they can’t inflict any pain on humans.
Pavement ant colonies located too close to each other will attack each other by the thousands on the surface of sidewalks. This is called a pavement ant war, and it can last for days or weeks until one colony wins or retreats.
They cannot damage a structure in any way. They only use the cracks and crevices as entry points, but they do not chew or tunnel through wood or concrete.
Only 10% of the colony’s ants leave to forage for food and other nesting sites. The ants that you are finding on the inside are only 10% of the colony that is active around the area.
They can carry up to 20 times their body weight, which makes them very strong and efficient workers.

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Kwik Kill Services to Control Pavement Ants:

Additional Information:

https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/files/2014/11/Pavement-Ants.pdf
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/TOOLS/ANTKEY/pavement.html
https://extension.psu.edu/pavement-ant

Pavement Ants Control

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