MANSFIELD — No. All ants do not have wings and fly.
Most species of ants reproductive’s have wings, the females upon mating lose theirs and the males after mating may or may not lose their wings but they die soon after the mating ritual is over.
There are 360 species of ants in the United States. In north central Ohio we see up to 12 of these species but mainly Carpenter Ants, Odorous House Ants, Pharaoh Ants, Acrobat Ants and Thief Ants.
Ants are the most socially complex insects on our planet, and they have the greatest diversification in behavior. It has been said that for every human being on Earth there are one million ants.
Ants are still the number one reason that professional pest control companies are called.
We will discuss two species of ants in this article. Carpenter Ants and Odorous House Ants.
Carpenter Ants are the biggest type of ant that we encounter in this area. They are black and there are several sizes of workers. The largest worker may be 5/8 of an inch in length and the winged female reproductive may reach 3/4 of an inch.
Carpenter ants do not eat wood but they hollow it out to live in it. Like little six-legged carpenters they create large cavernous galleries to house their brood mates.
The newly impregnated female searches for a suitable spot to begin laying her eggs. This spot will typically be wood with high moisture content.
Houses that have experienced water damage are a likely place where a carpenter ant nest may start up. The wood that has water in it allows the new queen to receive the vital water she needs without leaving the nest.
Also the wood is softer if wet to allow the singular ant an easier task of hollowing out the first nursery. Buildings are not normally the main colony for carpenters but serve often as a sub-colony. Most colonies are in a tree or other large pieces of wood. A carpenter ant foraging worker has a range.
There are four stages in the life cycle of an ant. First is the egg, then the larva stage, the larva becomes a pupa, and the pupa develops into an adult ant. The first three stages will be tended by the female (queen) until the first eggs grow into worker ants then the queen simply lays eggs and is tended to by her offspring.
Carpenter ants normally extend their galleries in the wood that has been softened by moisture. They will expand into dry, hard, undamaged wood but it is not their preference.
Odorous House ants are one of the small ant species that we often see in the homes of clients. We will refer to them as OHA. They are approximately 1/8 inch in length and brown to black in color. Unlike carpenter ants the workers are all of one size. Workers will give off a rotten coconut odor when crushed, thus the name.
The tough thing in controlling OHA’s is that they have multiple queens. So one application of bait will not eliminate the problem, it is so very important to identify the ant species in the beginning.
The best weapon that the consumer may use in the battle against ants is a product named Terro. They have several baits that are effective.
When the battle against ants wears you down we suggest contacting one of the several pest control companies in the area to finally alleviate the problem.
