- Joined
- May 7, 2004
- Messages
- 1,904
Hello,
This would be my first post in the insect forum, hopefully there will be some that can provide some insight to my many, many, univited house guests: little red ants.
I would like some assistance in identifying and obtaining some general information regarding the ants that have taken up residence in my apartment. I have not a clue as to a starting place for learning about these things as Google keeps telling me to check out pest control sites. Following is some observations on these things to help narrow down the possiblilities:
Description
These small ants are just a few millimeters in length from head to abdomen. The head and thorax are an orange-red color and the abdomen appears to be black. I am in Dallas, TX if the location of the ants are of any help.
Behavior
The ants appear to be unorganized in their behavior in searching for food and water. There are a couple of spots in the apartment where they are walking back and forth in a line along the bottom of a wall (where the wall and floor meet most often). However, what makes this interesting is that the starting point (or end point) of this line does not yeild more ants; a nest in other words. I have never seen one of these ants carry food anywhere. They are scattered everywhere mostly where a food source is or where a food source was once present but removed. I must also state that I am not too sure that a conclusion of unorganization is definite. It may be possible that they are highly organized but are being scattered everywhere from foot traffic.
Food Prefrence
These little ants almost always are found in great numbers in, on, or around soda cans or other sugary food or beverage items. They are never found exploring or feeding from glasses or plastic bottles which contain water or non sugary drinks such as beer. The only exception is that they explore these after I have drinken from them right after drinking a soda. They are never found in bags of potato chips, bread, or dog food (i have two dogs, i don't eat dog food ). They also don't appear predatory or scavangeous on organic matter nor do they express intrest in other living things. I have two walls lined with shelving which tarantulas are housed and I have never observed these ants exploring the inside of the tarantula tanks or attacking the spiders themselves. I also have a 40 gallon aquarium always stocked with crickets which the ants don't have an interest in. It doesn't worry me that my animals are in danger. There was one instance where I left a half a can of soda open on a table, about 24 hours later the table top was covered in these ants. I removed the can, rinsed it, and threw it away, and the next day there were no signs of the ants.
Given the above information, could someone take a guess as to what type of ant they are or point me to some online resources for further reading? Is there more info that's needed in providing assistance? The ants are not doing any harm, they are just annoying me because they keep stealing my food. :wall:
Thanks!
- Lonnie
This would be my first post in the insect forum, hopefully there will be some that can provide some insight to my many, many, univited house guests: little red ants.
I would like some assistance in identifying and obtaining some general information regarding the ants that have taken up residence in my apartment. I have not a clue as to a starting place for learning about these things as Google keeps telling me to check out pest control sites. Following is some observations on these things to help narrow down the possiblilities:Description
These small ants are just a few millimeters in length from head to abdomen. The head and thorax are an orange-red color and the abdomen appears to be black. I am in Dallas, TX if the location of the ants are of any help.
Behavior
The ants appear to be unorganized in their behavior in searching for food and water. There are a couple of spots in the apartment where they are walking back and forth in a line along the bottom of a wall (where the wall and floor meet most often). However, what makes this interesting is that the starting point (or end point) of this line does not yeild more ants; a nest in other words. I have never seen one of these ants carry food anywhere. They are scattered everywhere mostly where a food source is or where a food source was once present but removed. I must also state that I am not too sure that a conclusion of unorganization is definite. It may be possible that they are highly organized but are being scattered everywhere from foot traffic.
Food Prefrence
These little ants almost always are found in great numbers in, on, or around soda cans or other sugary food or beverage items. They are never found exploring or feeding from glasses or plastic bottles which contain water or non sugary drinks such as beer. The only exception is that they explore these after I have drinken from them right after drinking a soda. They are never found in bags of potato chips, bread, or dog food (i have two dogs, i don't eat dog food
). They also don't appear predatory or scavangeous on organic matter nor do they express intrest in other living things. I have two walls lined with shelving which tarantulas are housed and I have never observed these ants exploring the inside of the tarantula tanks or attacking the spiders themselves. I also have a 40 gallon aquarium always stocked with crickets which the ants don't have an interest in. It doesn't worry me that my animals are in danger. There was one instance where I left a half a can of soda open on a table, about 24 hours later the table top was covered in these ants. I removed the can, rinsed it, and threw it away, and the next day there were no signs of the ants.Given the above information, could someone take a guess as to what type of ant they are or point me to some online resources for further reading? Is there more info that's needed in providing assistance? The ants are not doing any harm, they are just annoying me because they keep stealing my food. :wall:
Thanks!
- Lonnie
