Ants: Identification, Biology, Prevention and Control

What is an ant, and how do you tell one from a termite?

An ant is a social insect with elbowed antennae and a narrow, pinched waist, and those two features, plus the wings on the flying forms, separate it from a termite. The University of California's Pest Notes on ants lists three differences: an ant's body is constricted into a thin waist while a termite's waist is broad, an ant's hind wings are smaller than its front wings while a termite's four wings are about the same size, and worker and winged female ants have elbowed antennae while a termite's are not elbowed. The University of Kentucky's ant control guide makes the same comparison and likens the ant's waist to a wasp's.

The difference matters most when winged insects turn up indoors, and wings alone will not always settle it: the University of California notes that ants and termites both shed their wings shortly after their flights. A side-by-side comparison of flying ants and termites covers the swarmers, the workers and the signs each one leaves behind.

Identification guides also count the nodes, the small knobs on the narrow section between an ant's thorax and abdomen. In the University of California's table, Argentine ants, odorous house ants and carpenter ants have one node, while pavement ants, pharaoh ants, thief ants and fire ants have two. If you want a second opinion, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension's guide to household ant pests suggests collecting a few workers with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol and taking them to a county Extension agent.

Very few of the world's ants are pests. The University of California counts more than 12,400 species worldwide and about 270 in California, of which fewer than a dozen are important pests. A 2022 analysis in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences gives a higher total, more than 15,700 named species and subspecies; the two figures count different things and were published a decade apart. Texas A&M's guide opens by noting that ants are generally considered beneficial in nature, and the University of California adds that they feed on other pests, including fleas, caterpillars and termites.

How does an ant colony work?

A colony is a family built around one or more egg-laying queens, and almost every ant you see is a sterile female worker. The University of California describes three castes: queens, which lay the eggs and are larger than other ants; workers, which gather food, feed and care for the larvae, build tunnels and defend the colony; and males, whose only role is to mate with queens. Kentucky's guide puts colony size anywhere from hundreds to millions of members depending on the species, and stresses that the ants foraging across a counter are a small portion of a colony whose queens and thousands of other members stay hidden in the nest.

Most colonies start with a single mated queen. In the University of California's account, she shuts herself underground for weeks or months, lays her first eggs, and feeds the first larvae from her own metabolized wing muscles and fat reserves until they pupate. Several weeks later the pupae become the first workers. After a few years the colony begins producing winged males and females that leave to mate and found new colonies.

Ants go through complete metamorphosis: egg, larva, pupa and adult. The larvae are legless and grub-like and do not resemble adults. Texas A&M gives timelines for three species. A pharaoh ant worker takes 38 to 45 days to develop from egg to adult, a red imported fire ant takes 22 to 37 days depending on temperature, and a carpenter ant worker takes about 2 months. The same publication says a fire ant queen can produce about 800 eggs a day and that a mature fire ant colony can hold more than 200,000 adult and immature ants.

Queens can far outlive workers. The household ant guides cited here do not give lifespans, but Arizona State University's Ask A Biologist reports that queens of desert seed-harvester ants may live more than 20 years, laying eggs from a single mating flight, while a worker that has begun foraging outside the nest is likely to be killed by lizards, birds, dehydration or other hazards within a month. Those figures describe desert species; a separate guide sets out how long workers, queens and whole colonies live for the common household ants.

How do colonies spread: swarming or budding?

Colonies multiply in two ways, and which one a species uses changes how it should be treated. Swarming species produce winged males and females, called swarmers, that leave the nest to mate. Kentucky's guide says a swarm that emerges indoors indicates a nest is present in the building, though the chance of those swarmers founding a new colony inside is low; Texas A&M adds that winged ants around a porch light are no cause for concern.

Timing depends on the species: in Texas A&M's table for Texas, carpenter ants swarm from May to late July, little black ants from May to September and red imported fire ants all year. A separate page explains what flying ants are and what a swarm inside the house means.

Other species skip the mating flight. Texas A&M explains that some colonies have more than one queen, that mating may take place inside the nest, and that new colonies form when one or more queens leave with some workers and brood. It uses the word budding for the pharaoh ant, which does not swarm at all and multiplies when a large part of a colony moves to a new nest site. The University of California describes Argentine ant colonies as linked into one large supercolony with multiple queens. Splitting matters for control: Texas A&M warns that insecticide sprayed on ant trails can sometimes make a problem worse by causing a colony to split into two or more.

Which ants are common in US homes, and how do you tell them apart?

A short list of species causes most home invasions, and four things separate them: size, color, the number of waist nodes and where the nest is. Which ones you are likely to meet depends on where you live. The University of California calls the Argentine ant the most common ant in and around California homes and gardens, Texas A&M says the pharaoh ant is the ant most often seen indoors in Texas, and Kentucky lists pavement ants, carpenter ants, acrobat ants, pharaoh ants and odorous house ants as the common house-invading species in Kentucky and the Midwest.

Sugar ants and other tiny ants

Sugar ant is a nickname, not a species: neither identification table used here lists an ant by that name, and Texas A&M records it as another name for the pharaoh ant. A separate guide explains which ants people mean by sugar ants, and an identification key for tiny ants works from size, color and smell to a species. The species matters because of bait: the University of California notes that thief ants and pharaoh ants prefer protein or greasy baits all year, while Argentine ants take sweet baits year-round.

Black ants

A black ant can be a 1/16-inch little black ant, a 1/8-inch odorous house ant, a 3/16-inch pavement ant or a carpenter ant up to 1/2 inch long, so size is the first thing to check. Of those four, the carpenter ant is the one known for excavating wood. Kentucky separates the two mid-sized species by the waist: a pavement ant has two obvious nodes and fine grooves along its head and thorax, while an odorous house ant has no noticeable node and gives off a rotten coconut or pine scent when crushed. A separate page compares the black ants found around US homes and which of them matter for the structure.

Ghost ants

The ghost ant (Tapinoma melanocephalum) is a tiny ant, about 1/16 inch long, with a dark head and thorax and a light abdomen. Texas A&M's guide, published in 2005, describes it as becoming a problem in Texas, with colonies that nest primarily indoors and foragers that are attracted to sweets. A dedicated guide to identifying and controlling ghost ants covers where in the United States they live and how their colonies spread.

Red ants and fire ants

Not every reddish ant is a fire ant. The University of California describes the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta) as reddish with a dark brown abdomen, with workers of mixed sizes from 1/16 to 1/5 inch, nesting in soil mounds that have multiple openings. The southern fire ant (Solenopsis xyloni), listed separately in the same table, has an amber head and thorax and a black abdomen. Texas A&M points out that odorous house ants and tramp ants (Tetramorium species) look somewhat like fire ants, and that a close look separates the tramp ants: their head and thorax are roughened with parallel grooves, while a fire ant's body is smooth. Another page works out which red ant you are looking at, look-alike by look-alike.

Carpenter ants

Carpenter ants (Camponotus species) are the big ones: workers are 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and black or red and black. Texas A&M gives two features that set them apart from most other large ants: the top of the thorax is evenly rounded with no spines, and a single flattened segment joins the thorax to the abdomen. It counts 14 species in Texas alone, the largest being the black carpenter ant, Camponotus pennsylvanicus.

Why do ants come indoors, and what do they eat?

Ants come indoors for food, water and shelter. The University of California says they enter buildings seeking food and water, warmth and shelter, or refuge from hot, dry weather or flooding, and that they may appear suddenly when other food sources run out or the weather changes. Texas A&M adds that whole colonies may move indoors when it is abnormally hot and dry or very wet, and that colonies do not keep permanent nest sites: an entire colony can move from one site to another almost overnight.

Indoors, household ants feed on sugar, syrup, honey, fruit juice, fats and meat, by the University of California's list. Outdoors, they are attracted to honeydew, the sweet liquid produced by aphids, soft scales and mealybugs, and they protect those insects from their natural enemies. Diets differ by species. Texas A&M describes red imported fire ants as omnivores that eat mostly insects and other invertebrates, and lists grease, meats and sweets as the indoor preferences of pharaoh ants and sweets, meats and dairy products for odorous house ants.

Food is shared, not just eaten. Foragers of some species lay a chemical (pheromone) trail that leads nestmates to food and water, then carry the food home and share it with the queens and brood. Texas A&M notes that most adult ants cannot swallow solid food particles; in pharaoh ants, the larvae partially digest solid food and regurgitate it for the rest of the colony. That sharing is what makes baits work. A fuller account of what ants eat and how colonies share food explains why diet decides which bait a species will accept.

Trails can be long. Texas A&M reports pharaoh ant trails reaching 150 feet and Argentine ant foraging trails as long as 200 feet, and the University of California observes that ants prefer to travel along structural elements such as wires and pipes, which they often use to enter a building and move through it.

Do ants bite or sting, and are they a health risk?

Most of the common household ants neither bite nor sting; fire ants are the main exception. The University of California says ants can bite with their pincer-like jaws although most species rarely do, and that only a few sting, among them native fire ants, harvester ants and the red imported fire ant. Texas A&M's table of house-infesting ants lists pharaoh, odorous house, thief, Argentine, crazy and little black ants as neither stinging nor biting, acrobat and carpenter ants as biters that do not sting, and the red imported fire ant as the one that does both.

A separate guide sorts US species by which ants bite and which sting and what the reactions look like. Carpenter ants get their own page, on whether carpenter ants bite and why the bite is the lesser problem.

Fire ant stings are a different matter. Texas A&M describes how workers rush up from a disturbed mound, grip the skin with their jaws and inject venom through a stinger at the tip of the abdomen. CDC's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) says the venom can cause a burning sensation, and that red bumps may form at the sting site and develop into white, fluid-filled pustules within a day or two.

The agency's first-aid advice is to rub the ants off briskly, because they attach to the skin with their jaws, and it notes that antihistamines may help if used as the package directs. Texas A&M says most people can tolerate the stings, but Kentucky's guide warns that they can be life-threatening to hypersensitive individuals.

Beyond stings, the sources used for this page treat ants in the home mainly as a nuisance. Texas A&M's guide calls them exactly that, Kentucky's adds that ants contaminate food, and the University of California describes the concern as long trails of ants leading to food. None of the three household ant guides cited here ties ants in the home to a specific illness. If you are finding bites but no ants, look at the bed bug reference, which shows that pest and the signs it leaves, before blaming ants.

Can ants damage a house?

Carpenter ants can: they do not eat wood the way termites do, but they hollow it out to nest. The University of California says that carpenter ants, along with the velvety tree ants found in California, may cause considerable damage this way. Texas A&M describes carpenter ant galleries as following the grain of the wood, with clean, smooth walls, and says they can weaken structural timbers.

Where they nest explains the risk. Texas A&M says carpenter ants usually nest in dead wood: outdoors in old stumps, dead parts of trees, firewood and fences, and indoors between wood shingles or in siding, beams, joists and fascia boards. They may prefer moist or decaying wood, wood with dry rot, or old termite galleries, so a nest indoors is a reason to look for a leak or rot as well. Carpenter ants are also among the species that Texas A&M says keep satellite colonies apart from the main nest.

How serious the damage gets depends on the species and the region, and the sources do not fully agree. The University of California speaks of considerable damage. Texas A&M says that tunneling into structural wood is rare with the species found in Texas, where colonies are often located in cracks between timbers, and that the large black carpenter ant lives mainly in wooded areas there and rarely causes a problem indoors. Kentucky's guide counts hollowing out wood for nesting among the kinds of damage ants do, and leaves carpenter ants to a separate publication.

The signs to look for are the ants themselves, sawdust and swarmers. Texas A&M says nests can be located by searching for piles of sawdust-like wood scrapings and dead ant parts beneath the exit holes, and that winged carpenter ants found inside a home, which in Texas swarm from May through July, mean a colony is probably nesting indoors. The guide to finding and treating a carpenter ant nest covers the search and the treatment options in detail.

How do you keep ants out of the house?

Take away the food and water they come for, then close the openings they use. The University of California tells readers to focus on excluding ants from buildings and eliminating their food and water sources, and Texas A&M's management advice starts with the same steps. The University of California adds that if ants can be thoroughly washed away and excluded from an area, indoor insecticide sprays are not necessary.

• Store food so ants cannot reach it. Keep sugar, syrup, honey and pet food in closed containers, and wash the outsides to remove residue. Clean up grease and spills, rinse empty soft drink containers, and take the garbage out daily.
• Cut off water. Fix leaky faucets, plumbing leaks and sprinkler heads, and replace wet or rotten wood.
• Seal the gaps. Caulk cracks and crevices around the foundation and replace worn weatherstripping. Kentucky singles out door thresholds, windows and the openings where utility pipes and wires enter the building.
• Clear the foundation. Keep plants, grass and mulch away from the foundation: the University of California says several inches in its main text and at least a foot in its quick tips. Remove ivy and dense vegetation next to the house, and pull landscape rocks back as well, because Texas A&M says mulch and rocks at the bottom of the foundation keep the soil moist, which attracts ants.
• Remove the bridges. Trim tree limbs away from the roof and walls, store firewood away from the house, and clean out rain gutters, where ants may nest in decomposing leaves.
• Check what you carry in. Look over firewood and potted plants for ants before bringing them indoors.
• Deal with honeydew. Control aphids and other honeydew-producing insects on plants close to the house.

Kitchens supply food and water together, and the guide to getting ants out of the kitchen covers the entry points around sinks and dishwashers and where bait can go near food-preparation surfaces. Sealed containers and caulked gaps also work against other kitchen pests, which have their own references: the complete guide to cockroaches and the complete guide to mice.

What is the best way to get rid of ants in the house: bait or spray?

Bait. A slow-acting bait is carried back to the nest and shared, so it reaches the queens; a spray kills only the foragers it touches. The University of California explains that workers take small portions of bait home, where it is passed mouth to mouth to other workers, larvae and queens, and that the insecticide must be slow-acting so the workers survive the trip.

1. Follow the trail. Trace the line of ants to the crack, window frame or pipe gap they are using. If the trail is faint, Kentucky suggests a small dab of honey or jelly on an index card, and Texas A&M suggests bottle caps filled with sugar water, peanut butter or bacon grease. Ants that have fed head back toward the nest.
2. Find out what they want. The University of California's test is to offer a small quantity of each kind of bait, sweet and protein or greasy, and see which one the ants prefer.
3. Set bait beside the trail. Kentucky says to place it next to wherever ants are seen, preferably beside their trails. The University of California prefers bait outdoors, near trails and nest openings, and keeps indoor baiting for a serious infestation whose entry point cannot be found, because bait indoors could attract ants inside. Texas A&M says never to put bait where small children or pets can reach it.
4. Leave the ants alone. Expect more ants around the bait at first. Kentucky says not to spray them and not to use other insecticides or cleaning products near the bait, because that may deter ants from feeding.
5. Remove competing food. Texas A&M notes that bait is more effective when spilled food and grease are cleaned up.
6. Keep the bait fresh. The University of California says to check and refresh stations regularly, since bait can dry up or turn rancid and lose its appeal. If the ants ignore one product, Kentucky's advice is to try another.
7. Seal the entry point. Once the trail has gone quiet, caulk the crack or gap the ants were using; Kentucky's caution is not to disturb a foraging trail while bait is out.

The whole-house version of this plan, including what to do when the nest is inside a wall, is in the guide to getting rid of ants in the house, and a companion page explains in more depth why baiting beats spraying.

Which bait ingredients work?

The bait ingredients named in these guides are all slow-acting. The University of California lists hydramethylnon, fipronil, boric acid and other borates, and abamectin; Texas A&M's list adds the insect growth regulators pyriproxyfen and methoprene. Baits come as prefilled plastic stations, gels in a tube or syringe, liquids and granules, and Kentucky calls the gel type often the most versatile and effective. One trap to avoid: the University of California warns that some granular products containing cyfluthrin or permethrin may be mistaken for baits but are contact insecticides that kill foragers quickly without controlling the colony. The ant control product guides compare the product types.

Borate baits show why slower can be better. Writing about Argentine ants, the University of California notes that prepackaged borate stations usually contain 5.4 percent borate and are less effective against major infestations, because foragers are killed before they can bring the bait back to the colony. Liquid baits at 0.5 to 1.0 percent in sugar water have more impact on the colony, though results may take several days to a week and the liquid has to go in larger, refillable stations. Texas A&M likewise says a 1 percent boric acid bait is less repellent to ants than stronger mixes and kills them as efficiently. The guide to borax and boric acid ant baits covers concentrations, homemade mixes and safety around children and pets.

On safety, the National Pesticide Information Center's boric acid fact sheet says boric acid can kill insects that eat it: it disrupts the stomach and can affect the nervous system. It rates boric acid as low in toxicity if eaten or if it contacts skin, but adds that borax can be corrosive to the eyes and irritating to the skin. The label's placement rules still apply, and the warning box below explains what to do if bait is swallowed.

How long does baiting take?

Expect days for the trail to thin and weeks for the colony. Kentucky says ant activity at a bait usually subsides in a few days. The University of California allows 5 to 10 days to see fewer ants and several weeks or more for complete control, and Texas A&M says a careful, thorough baiting program should control ants after 3 to 4 weeks, though some colonies take longer. Texas A&M also cautions that baits usually kill many, but not all, of the ants in a colony, particularly a large one that cannot be treated directly as well.

Why not just spray?

Because spraying kills foragers and leaves the colony. The University of California states that spraying ants indoors will not prevent more from entering, and that a spray around the foundation kills only foragers, typically a small proportion of the colony, without killing the queens; on occasion a barrier spray makes the situation worse by trapping ants indoors. Texas A&M adds two more problems: long-acting contact sprays keep foragers from reaching bait, and spraying trails can split a colony.

What if you find the nest?

A nest you can reach can be treated directly. Kentucky says a below-ground colony can often be eliminated by spraying or drenching the nest location with a liquid insecticide, and Texas A&M says sprays or dusts are the most effective formulations for indoor nests, with dusts usually preferred and applied sparingly in thin, even layers. Choose a product whose label lists ants and the place you are treating. When reaching the colony means drilling into wood or a wall void, Texas A&M's advice is to hire a professional with the skill and equipment for it.

Do home remedies work on ants?

They can clear the ants you see, but nothing in these sources shows a household remedy eliminating a colony. Soapy water has the best support: the University of California says vacuuming a trail, or sponging or mopping it with soapy water, may be as effective as an insecticide spray at temporarily removing foraging ants, and that soapy water removes the ants' scent trail, especially when the entry points are cleaned thoroughly. It adds that some soap products, such as window cleaners, kill ants on contact but leave no residual toxicity. Kentucky says wiping away odor trails with a kitchen cleanser or mild detergent can sometimes give temporary relief, with one caution: do not disturb the foraging trails while you are using a bait.

Vinegar is a common suggestion, and the university guides are silent on it: none of the three household ant publications cited here mentions it. Whatever a cleaner does to the ants and the trail it touches, it cannot reach queens in a hidden nest, which is the limit of every contact treatment. The guide to what vinegar does and does not do to ants goes through the details.

Plant-oil sprays kill on contact and then fade. The University of California notes that oils such as peppermint, rosemary, clove, orange and thyme are sold in pesticide-type products, and says these products typically provide excellent contact activity against ants but limited residual activity. Its guide and Texas A&M's do not evaluate pantry repellents such as cinnamon or coffee grounds, so they offer no evidence for or against them. A broader look at what natural pest control can and cannot do is on a separate page.

Outdoors, one home remedy does come with a number. Texas A&M's fire ant research and management project says that pouring 2 to 3 gallons of very hot or boiling water on a fire ant mound kills the ants about 60 percent of the time; otherwise the ants will probably just move to another spot, and the water also kills the grass and other vegetation it lands on. Anyone who tries it should treat several gallons of boiling water as the burn hazard it is.

Homemade borax bait is a different case, because borax and boric acid are insecticides, not folk remedies. Texas A&M describes a 1 percent boric acid bait for pharaoh ants, mixed into a food the ants like, with the same rule as for any bait: never place it where small children or pets can reach it.

What should you do about ants in the yard, and about fire ants?

In most yards, nothing, unless the ants are fire ants or keep coming into the house. Texas A&M says the entire home landscape should not be routinely treated unless it is infested with fire ants or other pest ants that continually enter the home, because most ant species are beneficial there. Kentucky is firmer for its region: spraying or spreading granular insecticide over the entire yard is not recommended in Kentucky and much of the Midwest, will seldom if ever solve an ant infestation indoors, and eliminates beneficial ants that help keep lawn and garden pests in check.

When a yard colony is the one sending foragers indoors, treat that colony. Kentucky says nests may be marked by a mound or hidden under mulch, gravel or stones, and that granular baits are an effective and convenient way to control some outdoor-nesting species. On trees and shrubs, the University of California recommends managing the honeydew-producing insects, banding trunks with a sticky barrier and trimming branches so they do not touch the house. For the wider question of which lawn insects are worth treating, see the guide to pest control for lawns.

Where are fire ants found?

Fire ants are found mostly in the Southeastern United States, with limited distribution in New Mexico, Arizona and California, according to NIOSH, and they are the yard ants that do justify treatment. Texas A&M reports that red imported fire ants, a species from South America, infest the eastern two-thirds of Texas and build mounds in open areas, and also nest under rocks and landscape timbers and at the bases of tree trunks. The University of California dates the species' foothold in Southern California to 1998 and asks Californians who suspect an infestation to report it to the county agricultural commissioner.

How are fire ants controlled?

For infested yards, Texas A&M's fire ant project recommends its Two-Step Method. Step one is to broadcast a fire ant bait over the entire yard once or twice a year (in Texas, the suggested window is late August to mid-October); baits are slow-acting and take weeks to months to reach 80 to 90 percent control. Step two is to treat individual mounds with a dust, a liquid drench or a granular product, following the label closely. The project says the approach works best where there are five or more mounds for each quarter-acre of yard.

Bait only works if the ants take it. The project suggests putting a small pile of bait next to a mound and checking whether the ants have found it within 30 minutes, using fresh bait, and applying when the ground and grass are dry and no rain is expected for 24 to 48 hours. The guide to red ants and fire ants walks through the method, along with native fire ants and when a sting needs emergency care.

Texas A&M notes that fire ants eat mostly insects and other invertebrates, ticks and chiggers among them. For the yard's biting pests themselves, see the tick control guide and the backyard mosquito control guide.

When should you call a professional?

Call one when a careful baiting program has not ended the problem after several weeks, when the nest is inside a wall or structural wood, or when carpenter ants or fire ants are involved and you are not confident treating them. Kentucky advises contacting a professional when ants are a persistent problem, noting that pest control firms have more experience with ants and a broader range of insecticides and application equipment than the public. Texas A&M says that ant control can be difficult and that a commercial pest control operator is the next call if your own efforts do not succeed.

Some jobs are professional by nature. Texas A&M points to colonies that can only be reached by drilling into wood or wall voids, to species that keep more than one nest in a structure, and to those, such as carpenter ants, with satellite colonies apart from the main nest. It also describes products that professional operators apply, including non-repellent insecticides used on foraging ants when the nest is inaccessible.

Ask how the company plans to treat. The University of California recommends hiring a pest management professional trained or certified in integrated pest management, and asking for baits and spot treatments in place of perimeter treatments or monthly sprays. For help deciding, see what pest control typically costs and which pest jobs are realistic to do yourself.

Which remarkable ants do people ask about?

The ants people are most curious about are not household pests: army ants, honeypot ants, bullet ants and so-called zombie ants are wild species, and none is listed as a household pest in the guides cited above.

Start with the sheer number. The 2022 PNAS analysis pooled 489 studies from every continent and conservatively estimated almost 20 quadrillion ants on Earth (20 followed by 15 zeros), with a combined biomass of about 12 megatons of dry carbon. That exceeds the combined biomass of wild birds and mammals and equals about 20 percent of human biomass. How the figure was calculated, and where it is weakest, is the subject of how many ants are in the world.

• Army ants. Arizona State University's Ask A Biologist explains that an army ant colony builds no permanent nest and moves as a group from place to place, using temporary shelters such as rodent holes. The Arizona army ants it describes are nearly blind and raid at night in columns that may hold tens of thousands of ants, eating the insects they come across and the young of other ant colonies. A separate guide covers how army ants live and whether they are dangerous to people.
• Honeypot ants. In these ants, foragers feed sweet liquid to specialized workers called repletes, which swell into berry-like spheres up to about half an inch across. Ask A Biologist says the repletes cling to the ceilings of underground cavities, hold up to eight times their body weight, can barely move, and sustain the colony through the lean season. There is more on honeypot ants and where they are found on its own page.
• Bullet ants. The bullet ant, Paraponera clavata, is known for its sting, not for anything it does in a house, and none of the US extension publications used here lists it among home or yard ants. A separate guide to the bullet ant and its sting covers where the species lives and how the sting is rated.
• Zombie ants. These are ordinary ants, often carpenter ants, infected by fungi in the genus Ophiocordyceps, which change the ant's behavior so that it climbs vegetation and clamps on with its jaws before it dies. The page on the fungus behind zombie ants explains what researchers know about how it controls the ant and whether it poses any risk to people.

This guide is general educational information, not medical advice. If you have symptoms or concerns after a bite or exposure, contact a healthcare provider.

Use any pesticide exactly as its label directs. The label is the law, and what is registered and sold varies by state.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. Ants (Pest Notes, UC ANR Publication 7411) — University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program
2. ENTFACT-619: Ant Control for Householders — University of Kentucky Department of Entomology
3. Managing Household Ant Pests (B-6183) — Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service
4. Two-Step Method — Texas Imported Fire Ant Research and Management Project, Texas A&M AgriLife
5. Insects and Scorpions at Work — CDC National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
6. Boric Acid Fact Sheet — National Pesticide Information Center
7. The abundance, biomass, and distribution of ants on Earth — Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
8. Arizona Ant Species — Arizona State University, Ask A Biologist

How this guide was made: it was researched and drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed above. A second, independent AI pass then checked each factual claim against those sources. Found an error? Email support@buzzskito.ca.