Argentine Ant

Carpenter Ant

Fire Ant

House Ant

Pavement Ant

Pharaoh Ant

Thief Ant

The five most common wall-nesting ants are the carpenter ant, crazy ant, odorous house ant, Pharaoh ant, and the thief ant. The most commonly encountered ground- nesting ants are the Argentine ant, pavement ant, little black ant, velvety tree ant, and the fire ants.

RECOGNITION
Three body regions (head, thorax, and abdomen) defined by distinct constrictions. Antennae elbowed (workers and queens; males sometimes straight) with last 1-4 segments usually enlarged, forming a club. Abdomen connected to thorax by 1 or 2 slender abdominal segments called nodes which form the pedicel (ant's waist); enlarged rear portion of abdomen is the gaster.

IDENTIFICATION
It is necessary to know which ant species you are encountering because ants vary widely in their food preferences and living habits. Preliminary identifications can be made by using the pictorial key which follows this section.

BIOLOGY
Ants have complete metamorphosis: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. They are social insects and the colonies contain 3 distinct castes: workers, queens, and males. Workers are female, never with wings, and may live as long as 7 years. Although typically thought of as being sterile, workers of many species lay eggs that develop into males or are used by the colony as food (trophic eggs). Workers are either monomorphic, being of one form and size, or they are polymorphic, being of several forms which may vary greatly in size. Small workers are called minors, large ones majors or "soldiers", and those of in-between size are called intermediates or medias. Workers do all the work in the colony, which includes gathering food, caring for the young, and the enlargement of the nest.

Queens, which are typically the largest ants in a colony, function to establish new colonies and lay eggs. Once inseminated, they can lay fertile eggs for their lifetime which may be up to 15 years. For most species, a colony may contain many functional females or queens but only one founding queen. In the more common species, unmated females have wings and mated females chew theirs off. The male is usually between the worker and the queen in size and his only function is to inseminate the queen. Reproductives are usually produced only in very large or old colonies. Males die shortly after mating, usually within 2 weeks. For a particular species, if the females are winged, the males are also winged and retain their wings until death.

New colonies are founded at different times of the year, depending on the species. The swarmers (winged reproductives) usually come out of the nest, mate, and the inseminated queens chew off their wings and start a new colony in a suitable habitat. However, Argentine and Pharaoh ant swarmers produce no external swarm and mate in the nest, with new colonies being established by budding. All colonies of a particular species tend to swarm at the same time in a given area.

Adult ants, workers and reproductives, do not eat solid food. Instead, they eat only liquids which may be stored in their crop. Workers may regurgitate a tiny droplet of liquid to a fellow ant when solicitated by antennae palpations or stroking. Larvae are fed predigested or regurgitated food. Older larvae may process solid food into liquid form.