How to Manage Pests

Identifying characteristics

• Workers are all the same size, small, 1/8-inch long
• Uniformly dull brown
• Petiole with 1 erect node
• Thorax uneven in shape when viewed from side
• Musty odor emitted when crushed

Behavior

• Feed on sweets, fresh fruit, and buds of some plants
• Tend honeydew-producing species
• Forage for sweets and oils in homes
• Travel rapidly in distinctive trails along sidewalks, up sides of buildings, along branches of trees and shrubs, along baseboards, and under edges of carpets
• Colonies may split in spring and summer when queen and workers move to new site; not antagonistic toward each other

Nest type and size

• Outdoors in soil, under wood, slabs, debris, mulch, or in branches and cavities of trees and shrubs
• Shallow, 1- to 2-inch deep mounds in open, often disturbed habitats, either moist or dry
• Millions of ants per colony with multiple queens and many subcolonies

See also, Argentine ant quick management tips.