White Footed Ant

White-footed ant workers are about 1/8inch (3 mm) in length. The body resembles that of the crazy ants. The legs and antennal scape (first long segment) of this species, however, are much shorter. The key identifying character is the pale yellow coloring at the end the legs. This species also resembles the odorous house ant, except for the white-footed ant's darker color and light colored legs.

The white-footed ant appears to be more of a pest of homes than of commercial buildings, but given time this species should become more widespread in its range and infest all types of structures.

The colonies can be huge and eventually contain up to one million individuals. Almost half of the colony consists of workers; the other half is made up of "intercastes" (wingless males and females). Satellite colonies are formed and connect together by foraging trails, creating a large extended colony or "super colony White-footed ants are particularly fond of sweets and, like many ants, will tend and protect aphids, mealy bugs, and scales that produce "honeydew.". Nutrient transfer occurs via specialized trophic eggs that are produced by all females ( queens, intercastes, and workers).

Outside, trails of white-footed ants will usually be quite visible on walkways, foundations, and the sides of buildings.

Ant colonies living inside wall voids can be treated by drilling a small hole into the wall and injecting a small amount of aerosol or dust insecticide.

Insulated walls will require an aerosol application.

Treatments targeted directly at likely ant nesting sites, such as landscape beds, work better than nonspecific, broadcast applications of insecticides to the entire foundation and 3 to 10 feet out from the building.

Ant baits are not considered effective for white footed ant infestations due to their varied feeding habits and the fact that worker ants do not exchange food directly with queens, larvae, and intercastes, but instead use trophic eggs. Foraging workers may feed on a bait for awhile or simply ignore baits altogether. Any long-term feeding on a particular bait does not appear to occur. At this time, baiting is not a clearly acceptable option for this species.

Basics of Ant Control

Controlling ants in structures need not be so difficult. To be successful, you must follow a few basic rules:

1. Identify the ant of ants involved.
2. Perform a thorough inspection.
3. Determine where the ant colonies are located.
4. Treat the ant colonies directly.

It is not always possible to find where the ant colony is located. In this case, bait insecticides placed directly in the path of ants or where ants can find them are very effective and can save a tremendous amount of time and energy.

Timesaving Tips

Practicing a few proven field tips can save time in uncovering the source of an infestation.

• CARPETS - Most pest ants like to trail under the edge of carpets. Inspect along the walls under the carpet beside the tack strip. A good place to start is in front of fireplaces and sliding glass doors. When foraging ants are found, try to trail them back to their colony location.
• FOUNDATIONS - When ants are found inside along exterior walls, look for colonies living in the soil beside the foundation.
• VEGETATION - Ants like to nest and forage in trails out of sight behind any vegetation which rests against foundations, patios, etc. Pull back the vegetation to look for ants. Attempt to follow foraging ants back to their colony.
• GROUND SURFACES - Any item sitting on the ground could harbor a colony of ants. Check under all items, especially those near the foundation.
• MULCH - Mulch often harbors numerous colonies of ants such as pavement ants, fire ants, crazy ants and Argentine ants. Rake mulch back from the foundation to check for colonies.

General Treatment Tips

Once all the ant colonies have been located, they need to be treated directly with insecticides. The techniques used depends on where the colony is located. A colony in a wall void is treated differently than one living under a rock outside. Colony location also determines the type of insecticide needed.

OUTSIDE - Carry a small hand sprayer when inspecting for ant colonies outside. As you locate small ant colonies along foundations, under items, etc., they can be quickly drenched a with a liquid insecticide.

When numerous ant colonies are found living in the mulch of landscape beds, overall treatment or broadcast baiting is required. For best results, the mulch should be raked to expose the colonies.

Perimeter treatments of building foundations with a liquid insecticide will help prevent outdoor foraging ants from entering.

INSIDE - Ant colonies located inside wall voids should be treated using dust insecticide formulations. Sometimes it is necessary to treat trails of foraging ants. Outside and inside, these trails can be treated with spot applications of liquid insecticide. If ants are found foraging under the edge of carpets, however, they are most easily treated using a dust insecticide formulation.

INDOOR BAITING is also very effective for most ant species and also the safest. Maxforce and Dual Choice Ant Baits are available in Child Resistant containers and are the safest to apply and are very effective. Liquid baits and granular baits are also very safe and as long as they are applied into wall voids through switch plates or in hidden areas such as attics, voids, under carpeting, corners of cabinets etc., are more effective in many instances than baits applied in Child Resistant containers.

Argentine Ant

The Argentine ant is a small, light to dark brown ant about 1/8 inch (2.6mm) in length. They have been reported to crawl onto people and bite them while they are asleep. Reports from the early 1900's describe babies being attacked in their cribs.

The Argentine ant is most often confused with the odorous house ant, but the node on the abdomen of the Argentine ant has a sharp, pointed peak, while that of the odorous house ant is flat in shape and is hidden Argentine ants have multiple queen colonies and the queens will often be found along argentine ant trails. Occasionally, winged queens will be seen in a colony. The Argentine ant is important because it is ideally suited to urban environments. Where it occurs, it can be one of the most difficult pest ants to control.

A single colony of Argentine ants can contain thousands of workers and many queens. The queens in an Argentine ant colony live about 1 year. A typical colony consists of about 90% workers and 10% Queens. Control of Argentine ants typically requires a thorough outdoor treatment with a residual spray.

Indoors, treatment of wall voids usually provide the best results. Outdoor baiting is also effective.

Fire Ants

There are 3 species of fire ants that are common to the Southern US. The red imported fire ant, the imported fire ant, and southern fire ants. Fire ants are a significant health threat due to their stings. Regular outdoor applications to lawns and foundations are often necessary because re-infestation from neighboring properties is common. The key to fire ant control is to locate all mounds and treat them.

Application of a fire ant bait to the entire lawn helps limit re-infestation of treated areas. This works especially well on large lawns, acreage's, golf courses, pastures, etc.

Ghost Ant

The ghost ant is a very tiny ant less than 1/16-inch (2 mm) long that has a dark head and thorax and a pale colored, almost translucent, abdomen and legs. For this reason, it may also be called the black-headed ant. The ghost ant is related to the odorous house ant and resembles it except for the size and color. The odorous house ant is larger and is colored completely brown. Like the odorous house ant, host ant workers emit a rotten coconut odor when crushed.

The ghost ant's primary habitat is outdoors, it is highly opportunistic in its nesting habits. It will nest in soil, in debris in crotches of trees, dead tree limbs, and under stones.

Indoors, colonies will be located inside walls, in boxes, between sheets, towels, and folded clothing, in waterbeds, and virtually any other dark protected site. Ghost ants readily attack and kill insects and will forage on dead insects in window sills and around outdoor light fixtures. Indoors, ghost ants show a preference for sweets. They are commonly found inside packages of candy, sugar, and similar foods in kitchen pantries.

Successful control of ghost ants depends on the ability to locate foraging ants and nesting sites. Ghost ant colonies living in the soil or under items, such as stones or logs, should be treated by drenching each individual colony with an appropriately residual insecticide.

Ant colonies living inside wall voids can be treated by drilling a small hole into the wall and injecting a small amount of an aerosol or dust insecticide.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants can usually be controlled by finding and treating their colonies located in wall voids and wood.

In areas where carpenter ants are abundant, or where the nest cannot be located, baits are very effective.

Ants are wondrous creatures and one of the most successful animals on earth. In nature, ants are a prime food source for many animals. They aerate more soil than the earthworm, they have taken advantage of every conceivable environmental niche and can be found in every region of the world except the polar caps.

Ants are successful because they are social insects often forming complex colonies. Certain species of ants are specialized in their behavior.

Thief Ants

Thief ants are tiny ants less than 1/16inch (1.3 to 1.8 mm) in length, probably the smallest ants found infesting structures. The thief ant is most often confused with the Pharaoh ant which is the same general size and color. The primary difference between the two species is the thief ant has a 2-segmented antennal club while the Pharaoh has a 3-segmented antennal club. This ant is nicknamed a "thief" because it commonly lives near the nests of other ants and "steals" their larvae and food to feed its own colony. Thief ants may be considered beneficial because they kill and eat the immature forms of some pest ant species. Thief ants often feed on the larvae and food of other ants. They are also predacious on the immature stages of many insects. They will also feed on other food found within structures, such as dead insects and grease.

Infestations of thief ants are sometimes difficult to eliminate due, in part, to the fact that the colonies and the workers are small, thus making colony location difficult. Thief ant colonies living in the soil or under items such as stones or logs should be treated by drenching each individual colony with an insecticide. Thief ant colonies living in wall voids above or below cabinets can be treated by drilling a small hole into the void where the ants are living and injecting a small amount of dust insecticide. Bait insecticides are not as effective in controlling thief ants as they can be in controlling other species of ants. Thief ants do not seem to feed on baits for the extended period of time which is necessary for effective results. Perimeter treatments with a residual insecticide are seldom necessary when dealing with infestations of thief ants.