straight-sided. Ants also have two pairs of long narrow wings that are firmly attached; the termite wings, which are similar in appearance, break off easily. If termite swarmers have been crawling, their broken wings litter the swarm area (which is also a good indicator of termite infestation, especially if found indoors). Ants have elbowed antennae, while termites have straight, beaded antennae.

The queen is larger than the others and conducts the reproductive duties of the colony. Sterile female workers gather food, feed larvae, build tunnels and defend the colony. Males are few in number as their sole purpose is to mate with the queen. Ants usually nest in soil but can also be found around buildings or outdoors in warm, moist, protected areas that are in close proximity to food sources, such as trees or plants.

Some species, such as the Pharaoh ant, prefer to nest indoors, especially during winter months. Others, such as the Argentine ant and the Big-headed ant, build multiple sub-colonies that are linked to form one large “super colony” which consists of multiple queens and can stretch out over a considerable distance. Fire ant mounds are often numerous and may contain multiple queens and 500,000 or more individual ants. Others, such as the Elongate Twig ant, have small, single-queen colonies in which only a few individuals are seen.

Pyramid ants and Pavement ants deposit soil in a circular crater to build their nests, with pavement ant leaving unsightly mounds on sidewalks, driveways, etc. Indoors, Carpenter ants and Compact Carpenter ants tend to nest in wood, using their strong mandibles, or jaws, to chew smooth galleries and tunnels into moisture-softened wood, increasing the nest size for their ever-expanding colonies.

Food preferences vary among ant species, but almost all ants are attracted to sweets. Honeydew, the sweet excretion of aphids and scale is highly favored by many ant species. Some, such as Argentine, Ghost, and White-footed ants actually tend or “farm” these insects, protecting them on the plant they eat and driving off any predators or parasites in order to secure a constant honeydew supply. This also increases damage from these pests. Thief ants are so named because of their habit of stealing food and larvae from other ant colonies. Ants can lift 20 times their own body weight, and large numbers of ants can often be seen carrying a dead insect or other food source back to the colony.

Other ants exhibit interesting methods of defense. Acrobat ants emit a foul odor when bothered, as do Odorous house ants. Crazy ants, Caribbean crazy ants and Rover ants display fast, erratic movements when bothered. The most aggressive ant species, the Fire ant use their large numbers and painful, stinging bite to ward off intruders, and will rush out of their mounds en masse to attack anything that disturbs them, regardless of size.

Although they can be a nuisance indoors and out, ants are fascinating insects that have many important functions in the ecosystem, such as feeding on other pests (caterpillars, termites, etc) and contributing to the natural decomposition of dead animals.

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