As the species often share characteristics people can generally recognize an ant when they see one. Though ants are not limited to manmade boundaries, ants are found around the world, and some require specific climates, as a result, different species are often found in a localized area. Among the most common is the pavement ant, though there are several ant species, throughout Colorado. Today, we at Effective Pest Services would like to share the basics of pavement ants.
How Do I Identify Pavement Ants?
Pavement ants vary in color from light brown to black and have lighter appendages compared to the rest of their body in addition to averaging about 1/8th in length. The parallel lines on the head that lead to the thorax are another coloration distinction. Pavement ants’ antennae are 12-segmented with a 3-segmented club.
How Do You Find a Pavement Ant Nest & What Do Ants Eat?
Common habitats of the pavement ant are underneath the patios, driveways and sidewalks. It is convenient and easy to get inside buildings because of their preferred nesting grounds. Though they favor sweets and proteins, pavement ants can pilfer from people as these ants include dead insects in their diet. After they stealthily slip their way through the cracks and gaps of foundations, concrete slabs, the basement floors, and walls, pavement ants look for pet food, food in the trash, crumbs left behind, and in open food containers. Pavement ants will be motivated to stay should they continue to find a convenient food source. Common nesting grounds for the pavement ant underneath the stones, bricks, patio blocks, and logs. Where they will nest under, mulch materials are another application. They tend to be attracted to the wall’s insulation and under floors, making it difficult to find their precise location of the heart of the nest if they nest indoors. Should pavement ants be infesting your home, you need professional assistance for effective elimination. Infested areas outside, you will frequently see their mounds of piled dirt around.
Do Pavement Ants Bite or Sting?
Though they will bite if provoked, usually, pavement ants are docile and a nuisance. Pavement ants are omnivorous, and as mentioned, and they prefer for sweets and meats. They will eat living and dead insects, grease, and honeydew from aphids when they can’t get human sweets. There are multiple queens and thousands of workers in pavement ant colonies. The workers will take care of the brood until they mature following the queen’s eggs hatch. To protect them from fluctuations in moisture and temperature these broods are transferred from location to location. Until they become mature adult the larval eventually grow into pupal stages. Where these males and females’ mate, the swarmers, featuring wings that shed, are active during June and July. To expand their colony and continue the cycle of life, the females will look often.
Ant Pest Inspections, Exclusion, Control, Removal & More in Wellington, Fort Collins, Timnath, Greeley, Longmont, Boulder, Johnstown, Berthoud, Estes Park & Loveland, CO | Northern Colorado
Effective Pest Services can eliminate pavement ants effectively and in a timely manner if you are experiencing pavement ants, or any other ant or pest infestation. To get started, call us today.
