As you walk down the street or are looking at your driveway or sidewalk in front of your home, do you notice the anthills? During the summer, anthills pop up in the sidewalk cracks, next to your driveway, near the foundation of your home, and seemingly everywhere in between! But have you ever stopped and given these anthills any thought? Why do they appear? What function do they serve for the ants? Believe it or not, anthills can tell you a lot about the type of ants inhabiting the nest and what type of ant infestation you are dealing with!
What Is An Anthill?
Anthills are basically just the dirt that the ants have removed from their underground nest as they tunnel their way through the ground. Anthills are formed at the entrance and exits to ant colonies and there can be many different entrances and exits to a single nest.
Identifying Ants By Their Anthills
While it’s not always possible to specify the species of ant-based solely on the anthills they create, many times the location and type of anthill can help narrow down the culprit.
- Acrobat Ants: These ants prefer to form their nests in and around structures, especially in wood or rotted logs. If you see an anthill in an old stump or around your deck, you could be dealing with an acrobat ant colony.
- Carpenter Ants: Carpenter ants primarily nest in damp, water-damaged wood. They often nest in deck footings, window sills, and wet wood piles. Though carpenter ants don’t usually create anthills, you may find small piles of sawdust where they’ve burrowed into the wood and tunneled it out in order to build their nest and establish their colony.
- Citronella Ants: These ants rarely nest inside homes or structures as they prefer nesting in open fields and lawns. The nests these ants create may pop up all over your yard, including near your porch or the foundation of your home.
- Odorous House Ants: If you are finding anthills under stones, mulch, and other yard debris, then it’s quite possible that you are dealing with an odorous house ant nest. These ants like to nest close to food sources, so you also may find their nests near your garden area. As their name suggests, odorous house ants are also commonly found invading homes and will build nests inside homes in areas like under carpets and beneath flooring.
- Pavement Ants: As their name suggests, these ants live and nest near driveways and sidewalks. Pavement ants typically create anthills along curbs or in the cracks of pavement.
- Pharaoh Ants: These ants aren’t common in the Northeast, but can be found in apartments and commercial buildings in the Albany area. They will nest in void areas like spaces between cabinets or behind crumbling brick. Pharaoh ants do not create anthills.
Thomas Pest Services is the best in the business at taking care of anthills around your home! However, since ants in your yard or outside your home aren’t generally a problem, we focus on keeping ants from invading your home and getting rid of any current ant infestations you may already have by treating and protecting your home itself! Contact us at Thomas Pest Services to learn more about our residential pest control options!