Little black ants are often considered to be the most common type of ant in North America. They are also known as pavement ants or field ants.
They can be found everywhere from the kitchen to the bathroom, and they seem to have an endless supply of food sources.
Little black ants reproduce quickly and have large colonies with populations that can reach up to 100,000 individuals. The queen is usually solitary and lives underground where she creates a nest for her offspring, which includes both males and females who will eventually leave the nest in search of food while others stay behind to help care for future generations of larvae. Colonies may exist near us without our knowledge until an infestation occurs indoors or when they make their way inside buildings on rainy days during the late summer months when they tend to swarm.
They’re also attracted to sources of water, as well as food for their colony. The good news is that ants don’t eat through wood and other surfaces like termites do; however, it’s never a great idea to let insects stay in your home.
In this article, we’ll cover the best ways to get rid of those pesky ants once and for all.
Habitat & Behavior of Little Black Ants
Little black ants are the most common type of garden ant. They are members of the small black ant genus, Monomorium pharaonis. Little black ants are about 1 to 2.5 millimeters long and are dark brown to black. Little black ants are common throughout the world, including North America.
One common behavior among ants, especially little black ants, is the building of nests for living. These insects excavate nests in soil using their mandibles and legs. One of the most exciting things about little black ants is how they leave these nests to go on raids, during which they try to take food back to their nest. In attacks on other insects or plants, these ants spread out over a large area looking for food instead of going in a linear pattern from one place to another.
Little black ants live in colonies containing hundreds or thousands of worker ants and a single queen ant. Typically, these little ants build nests beneath rocks and fallen trees, but they can also establish colonies in cracks in buildings and sidewalks. The ants feed on a variety of foods, including seeds and insect carcasses. However, they can also become pests if they establish colonies in homes or yards, as they may eat holes in fabrics and invade food storage spaces to find sugars and meats
Little black ants typically enter structures by following electrical wires or plumbing pipes searching for food sources. Once inside, they can spread throughout the entire structure.
These ants are more of a nuisance than destructive; however, the queen and her young can sometimes damage wood timbers or paper materials.
What do Little Black Ants Eat?
Little black ants are omnivores. They eat a wide range of food sources, including but not limited to insects, other arthropods, fungi, meat, fish, carrion, and plants.
Little black ants eat anything and everything, including human food. They mainly eat other insects and their eggs, but they also like to munch on plants and flowers. The little black ants don’t need anything to eat since nutrients from other sources like animal droppings and decaying plant material are often available. Besides this nourishment, it is still thought that if the food source is not too big, it may be possible for them to extract enough nutrients from those sources as well.
Little black ants can be annoying, especially if they invade homes or buildings. They leave some chemical trails which the other worker ants will follow to discover where the food source is, but this trail can also cause them to be easily found by humans.
With food sources being hard to find during the winter season, little black ants will often invade homes searching for something to eat, including sweet things like sugar or syrup.
How to Get Rid of Little Black Ants?
Ants are a nuisance inside and outside homes. They can cause major problems by crawling into cabinets, drawers and eventually nesting in your food storage containers.
The best way to get rid of these critters is through prevention. Remove as much clutter as possible from the area where you’ve seen the ants. In addition, make sure to clean your house regularly. Also, make sure you keep your yard clean, bringing in any dead plants or animals that may attract the ants. Finally, use soil around plants that will not allow moisture to wick through them and ruin plant roots. These ants can harbor themselves inside wall cavities, but fumigating the colony will be the only sure way of eliminating them.
These ants don’t pose any serious threat to humans, and they rarely sting. Instead, they seem to prefer not to be around people. If the ants are causing problems for your houseplants, you can try ant baits designed to attract and kill ants. These will usually contain boric acid, a slightly toxic chemical to humans but deadly to ants.
If the ant problem persists or worsens, it might be time to call a professional pest control in Boise for help. Cleaning up the loose dirt around your house and garden can limit their access to food and nesting areas, but you might need further treatment if they remain.