ID Tips

Extremely long legs and antennae. The first segment of antennae is more than twice as long as the head. Crazy ants get their name from their habit of running about very erratically with no apparent sense of direction.

Crazy ants feed on a variety of foods, other insects, grease and sweets.

Trails of crazy ants will usually be quite visible on walkways,foundations, and the sides of buildings. Once a trail of ants is found, workers carrying bits of food or whose abdomens appear swollen with food or water will usually be returning to the colony. The trail should be followed in the direction in which these workers are heading.

Any object lying on the ground, such as lumber, stones, or trash, is a potential nesting site. Piles of any item are especially coveted by this ant (and other ants), particularly items in shaded, damp areas. Landscape mulch should be moved away from the building foundation and the base of trees and shrubs to check for ant colonies. Crazy ants forage long distances from the colony so a thorough inspection of the entire property is necessary. Branches of trees and shrubs brushing against the building should be checked for trails of foraging ants. The sides and edges of soffits on homes are often a site for foraging crazy ants. Nests in soffits and attics are not out of the question, especially if the attic is poorly ventilated and humid or excess moisture is evident in the soffits. Crazy ants have also been observed to live in gravel and underneath wood on the flat roofs of commercial buildings. When infestations occur on the upper floors of tall buildings, the roof should be inspected.

Crazy ants will nest in wall voids and in the soil of potted plants and atriums. The workers will forage along baseboards both above and below the edge of carpets. When crazy ants are observed foraging indoors, an attempt should be made to follow the trail to the point where the ants enter under a wall or through a crack (e.g., under a doorway). If ants are observed entering under a wall, the foundation and wall outside that area may reveal ants entering from a colony located outdoors.

Watching for conditions that ants thrive in, and eliminating them is the first step in ant control.

• If conditions exist which result in excess moisture, they should be corrected.
• Branches of trees and shrubs need to be pruned away from the structure’s roof and walls.
• As many cracks in the exterior walls as possible need to be sealed.
• Items under which crazy ants could nest should be removed.
• If possible, a vegetation-free border should be installed around the base of the foundation to make the area less attractive to ants and to make inspection easier. This vegetation-free border should contain gravel or small stones and not bark chips or mulch. Mulch and bark chips hold moisture, creating an ideal nesting site for ants.