Ant Control
Argentine Ant
Linepithema Humile
Identify
- Workers ants are 2.2 – 3.8 mm.
- No wings.
- Light to dark brown with legs somewhat lighter
- Mandibles are yellowish and senate (toothed).
- Can bite but leaves no sting behind.
Life Cycle
- Worker can travel a great distance making it not easy to track the nest.
- They prefer sweet foods but will also eat live and dead insects, meats, cereals and damaged fruit.
- Argentine ants are territorial and will drive out other ant species from their teritory.
Habitat
- Argentine Ants have vast super colonies with multiple kings and queens producing young.
- Generally nests in soil but can be also located in covering objects like wood and garbage.
Brown House Ant
Pheidole Megacephala
Identify
- Workers of two sides. Minor workers 2 mm (Pheidole capensis).
- Huge headed major workers are up to 4 mm (Pheidole megacephala).
- Brown to dark Brown.
Life Cycle
- Workers are wingless and sterile ants.
- Workers build nests, find food supplier, feed larvae, look after eggs and defend the nest.
- Males are winged and exist to mate with females.
- Females are also winged until after mating and are also the largest in size. Females become the reproductive queen of the colony and live for many years.
Habitat
- Most active at night and forages along well-defined trails.
- They will nest nest in the lose soil and build their nests near pathways and walls around the house.
- Will excavate leaving mounds along foot paths and other areas where the soil is losse.
- Will attack foods around the property including meat, sweets, fruit and greasy foods.
Carpenter Ant
Camponotus spp.
Identify
- 6 – 12 mm long .
- Workers are black or red and black in colour.
- Wings, if present; hind wings are shorter than the front pair of wings.
- Small circlet of hairs at the tip of the abdomen.
Life Cycle
- Workers ants are all sterile females.
- After a few years, an established colony will create its first reproductive males and females, which are winged.
- In spring, they leave the nest in a “nuptial swarm” to mate nearby. The fertile males die soon after and the mated females disperse to start their own new colony, eventually dropping their wings.
Habitat
- Carpenter ants nest in the dead or decaying wood of trees, fire wood, stumps, logs, and dead branches.
- Some species nest in the soil.
- They also nest in building material weakened by moisture.
- While digging, they clean up as they go, pushing the resulting sawdust out of the nest.
- Sawdust near a hole in the wood is one sign of a carpenter ant infestation.
Small Black Ant
Lepisiota Capensis
Identify
- Small 2.2 mm shiny black ants with paler legs.
- Workers work 24hours a day 7 days a week foraging.
Life Cycle
- Forages along well-defined trails.
- Colonies consist out of thousands od workers and many queens.
- Can split into multiple colonies if disturbed.
Habitat
- They will nest in sheltered soil e.g. underneath paving, stones and in the roots of plants.
Pharaoh Ant
Monomorium pharaonis
Identify
- 2.2 – 2.4 mm long.
- Yellow coloured body to a brown rear.
Life Cycle
- Multi-queen colonies.
- Swarming can take place at any time of the year.
- Winged adults seldom fly so rarely seen. Wings are soon lost after mating.
- Each queen produces up to 3,500 eggs in its lifetime.
Habitat
- Feeds indoors on high protein foods — meat, fats, blood, dead insects, etc.
- New colonies are often formed through nests that have been disturbed.