Pavement Ants
Order:
Hymenoptera
Family: Formicidae
Genus Species:
Tetramorium caespitum (linn)
Pavement ants are most common in urban areas of the Atlantic states, as well as in large midwestern cities such as Cincinnati, Cleveland and St. Louis. You may also find pavement ants in the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys, Calif. In the Washington, D.C. area, pavement ants are probably the predominant house-infesting ant.
Biology-Identification
The workers are brown to black in color and are about 2.5 to 3 mm (1/8-inch) long. The key identification features are the spines in the thorax, the two nodes on the pedicel and parallel striations on the head and thorax.
Outdoor nests are located under stones and along edges of curbing or cracks in pavements. During the winter, the ants often nest in the home, usually in crevices near a heat source.
The colonies can be moderately large. Swarmers usually appear in June or July; however, they have been reported at other times of the year. They are generally grease-loving ants, although they have been known to harvest honeydew from aphids.
There
has been very little research on this ant even though it is one of the
most common species in the East.
Control
The
colony, usually outside, should be located and then treated with residual
pesticides.
Indoors, treat cracks where the ants are entering with a residual
spray or dust, then seal the openings.
Ant baits are effective; sticky traps or glue boards may help,
but in most cases will not eliminate the problem.
(Courtesy of the National Pest Control Association.)