Pest Control St. Louis

Acrobat Ant

Latin Name: Crematogaster ashmeadi

Characteristics: Medium sized, mostly shiny ant with heart shaped abdomen that is oftentimes bent up over the thorax when ant is disturbed.

Color: Color variable from light reddish brown to brown or black.

Other: Slow to moderately fast moving ant. May forage in tight foraging trails close to white-footed ant trails, but only acrobat ant bends the stomach up over the thorax. Acrobat ants also run slower than white-footed ants when disturbed.

Habitat: Acrobat Ants are located in the Southeastern US (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia), but can be seen in parts of Missouri

Like all ants, the acrobat ants may produce winged, reproductive individuals (males and women) called swarmers. These sexually developed adults emerge from a founded colony, ordinarily in the fall, to disperse and start new colonies. The swarmers are harmless, but they could be the start of an infestation. Special treatment of swarmers beyond vacuuming or sweeping them up is not required.

Outside the home, you will generally find Acrobat ants in a mixture of dead and decaying wood. Firewood seems to be one of their preferred homes. In all cases, the wood they occupy will be dead. The acrobat ant never inhabits a wholesome or live piece of wood, that is why they like a few of the woodworkings around your home. They have a nasty habit of creating cavities in timber, particularly when that wood is moist. They will even nest in foam heat retaining material board if weather is right. One way to recognize their invasion into your wood is to search for sawdust or other frass materials around suspected nest areas.

Several types of small to medium-sized ants are occasional pests around the home. One of these is named the acrobat ant because of the way the worker ants carry their abdomens above the rest of the body as if they were performing a balancing act. Acrobat ants are slightly longer than 1/8th inch. They vary in color from yellowish brown to dark brown, and the heart-shaped abdomen is commonly darker than the remainder of the body. Magnification is needed to see a pair of spines on the back edge of the middle section of the body that helps identify this ant from other species. The characteristic of the workers to carry their abdomens in the air when they are disturbed is probably the best way to name this species.

Acrobat ants may nest both outside and indoors. Outdoor nests are most often in dead and decaying wood like logs, stumps, dead trees limbs, firewood and hollow tree cavities. They may nest in damp soil beneath leaf litter or rocks. The small worker ants readily enter buildings through crevices around windows and doors and several openings. Trails of workers may be viewed moving between the nest and a food source. Acrobat ants feed upon a selection of foods, including other insects and sweets.

When acrobat ants nest indoors they are usually inside wood or cavities kept moist with water from leaks. They may also nest in foam heat retaining board or sheathing. As they excavate the large galleries used as nest sites, sawdust might be deposited near the nest area.

How to Get Rid of Acrobat Ants?

According to a Pest Control company in St. Louis, acrobat ants entering from outdoors may be managed by sealing the outside cracks through which they enter, using a residual insecticide barrier along the foundation, or by treating the ant nest if the location can be determined through careful inspection and observation.

Ant colonies living within the walls should be treated by eliminating any moisture problems (if present) and by injecting household insecticide spray or dust into infested wall voids. An exterminator may take care of this or for small problems, you can do it yourself. It could be necessary to drill small holes to achieve this therapy.

Insecticides containing pyrethroids are around for homeowners for outdoor use. Always follow labeled directs.

Visit your local retail merchant to discover a ready-to-use insecticide labeled for ants. Read and follow the directions on the label.