Acrobat Ants
Acrobat Ant
Latin Name: Crematogaster ashmeadi
Traits: Medium sized, mostly shiny ant with heart shaped stomach that is sometimes 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 similar to white-footed ant trails, but only acrobat ant bends the stomach up over the thorax. Acrobat ants also slow to a snails pace than white-footed ants when disturbed.
Habitat: Acrobat Ants are found 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 ladies) called swarmers. These sexually developed adults emerge from an acknowledged colony, commonly in the fall, to disperse and begin new colonies. The swarmers are harmless, but they may be the first indication of an infestation. Special remedy of swarmers beyond vacuum-cleaning or sweeping them up is not required.
Outside the home, you will usually find Acrobat ants in an assortment of dead and decaying wood. Firewood appears to be one of their preferred homes. In all cases, the timber they occupy will be dead. The acrobat ant never inhabits a healthy or live piece of timber, which is why they like some of the woodworkings around your house. They have a nasty addiction of creating cavities in timber, especially if that timber is moist. They will even nest in foam insulating material board if conditions are right. One way to distinguish their intrusion into your timber is to look for sawdust or other frass materials around suspected nest areas.
Several species of small to medium-sized ants are occasional pests around about the home. One of these is named the acrobat ant owing to how the worker ants carry their abdomens above the remainder of the body as if they were performing a balancing act. Acrobat ants are longer than 1/8th inch. They vary in color from yellowish brown to dark brown, and the heart-shaped abdomen is typically darker than the rest 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 trait of the workers to carry their abdomens upward when they are disturbed is probably the best method to identify this species.
Acrobat ants may nest both outdoors and indoors. Outdoor nests are most often in dead and decaying wood such as logs, stumps, dead trees limbs, firewood and hollow tree cavities. They might nest in damp soil beneath leaf litter or rocks. The small worker ants readily enter buildings through fractures around windows and doors and several openings. Trails of workers may be seen moving between the nest and a food source. Acrobat ants feed on an assortment of foods, including other insects and sweets.
When acrobat ants nest indoors they are usually inside timber or cavities kept moist with water from leaks. They may also nest in foam insulating board or sheathing. As they excavate the large galleries used as nest sites, sawdust could be deposited near the nest area.
How to Get Rid of Acrobat Ants?
As reported by a Pest Control company in St. Louis, acrobat ants entering from outdoors may be managed by sealing the external fractures 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 ought to be treated by eliminating any moisture problems (if present) and by injecting household insecticide spray or dust into infested wall voids. An exterminator can take care of this or for small problems, you can do it yourself. It can be essential to drill small holes to achieve this therapy.
Insecticides containing pyrethroids are available to homeowners for outdoor use. Always follow labeled directs.
Go to your local retail merchant to discover a ready-to-use insecticide labeled for ants. Read and follow the directions on the label.