Ants

What Are Ants?

Ants are some of the most common pests that invade homes and properties. They are identified by their three distinct body regions: head, thorax, and abdomen. Ants also have antennae; the reproductive members of a colony are the only members that are winged. The most common ant species living in northern New Jersey has been provided below.

Argentine Ants
Argentine ants are a small species of ant and are usually either shiny dark brown or shiny-black in color. A single Argentine ant colony may have hundreds of thousands of workers and hundreds of queens living in it. These ants are often spotted traveling together in well-defined trails. These ants can also be identified by the musty smell they give off after they are crushed.

Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are among the largest species of ant to invade homes in the United States. They are typically black in color, with some having reddish or yellowish markings. Workers have large, strong mandibles that they use to tunnel through wood. Carpenter ants do not feed on wood as termites do. Instead, they create tunnels and nesting galleries in it.

Citronella Ants
Citronella ants are golden yellow in color, except for the winged males, which are black. These ants are also identified by the potent, lemony odor that they give off when they feel threatened. This odor becomes even stronger when these ants are crushed.

Odorous House Ants
Odorous house ants are often identified not by how they look, but rather how they smell. These ants give off an unpleasant rotten coconut-like smell when they are crushed. Odorous house ants are a small species of ant that are dark brown to black in color.

Pavement Ants
Pavement ants are dark brown or black in color. Their heads, bodies, and thorax are covered in grooved parallel lines, and their thorax has a small pair of spines extending from the back of it. Pavement ants are most often identified not by how they look, but by where they are nesting. Pavement ants are often found nesting in the cracks and crevices found next to areas of pavement and cement.

Pharaoh Ants
Pharaoh ants are a small species of ant that live together in large colonies. They have the potential to establish multiple colonies throughout a structure that they have invaded. Their bodies are light yellow to red in color and they have red or black colored abdomens. Queens are slightly darker in color than workers.

Sugar Ants
Sugar ants are small, black, household-invading ants that are highly attracted to sugar. They are usually found living outside foraging for good in garden areas, but often find their way inside while foraging for food. Sugar ants can enter homes in large numbers, and once inside, are difficult to control and eliminate.