Acrobat Ants
Acrobat Ant
Latin Name: Crematogaster ashmeadi
Characteristics: Medium sized, mostly shiny ant with heart shaped stomach that is often 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 run slower than white-footed ants when disturbed.
Habitat: Acrobat Ants are located in the Southeastern United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia), but can be found in parts of Missouri
Like all ants, the acrobat ants may produce winged, reproductive individuals (males and females) called swarmers. These sexually developed adults emerge from a founded colony, normally in the fall, to disperse and start new colonies. The swarmers are harmless, but they might be the first sign of an infestation. Special therapy of swarmers beyond vacuum-cleaning or sweeping them up is not required.
Outside the home, you will usually find Acrobat ants in a mixture of dead and decaying timber. Firewood seems 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 wood, which is why they like some of the woodworkings around your property. They have a nasty trait of creating cavities in timber, particularly when that timber is moist. They will even nest in foam heat retaining material board if weather is right. One way to distinguish their invasion into your timber is to look for sawdust or other frass materials around suspected nest areas.
Several types of small to medium-sized ants are occasional pests in and around the home. One of these is named the acrobat ant as a result of the direction 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 usually 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 addiction of the workers to carry their abdomens rising when they're disturbed is likely the best method to recognize this species.
Acrobat ants may nest both outside and indoors. Outdoor nests are most often in dead and decaying timber such as logs, stumps, dead trees limbs, firewood and hollow tree cavities. They could nest in damp soil beneath leaf litter or rocks. The small worker ants readily enter buildings through crevices around windows and doors and other openings. Trails of workers may be seen moving between the nest and a food source. Acrobat ants eat a selection of foods, including other insects and sweets.
When acrobat ants nest indoors they are ordinarily inside timber or cavities kept moist with water from leaks. They can 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 external cracks through which they enter, using a residual insecticide barrier along the foundation, or by treating the ant nest if the location can be established 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 treatment.
Insecticides containing pyrethroids are around for homeowners for outdoor use. Always follow labeled directs.
Go to your local retailer to discover a ready-to-use insecticide labeled for ants. Read and follow the directions on the label.