Size: 1-10 to 1/8 Inch (2-3 mm)
Color: Brown to Black
Description: The pavement ant is a small, brown to black ant with pale legs and a black abdomen. Pavement ants feed on a variety of materials, including live and dead insects, honeydew from aphids, meats and greases. Often enter house looking for food. They may become numerous in a short period of time in a kitchen or outside patio.
Habitat: These small, brown to black ants usually nest under stones, concrete slabs, at the edge of pavements, and in houses in crevices in woodwork and masonry.
Life Cycle: New ant colonies are started by a single queen that lays the eggs and tends the brood that develops into worker ants. Tending of the brood is then taken over by the workers, which shift the brood from place to place as moisture and temperature fluctuate in the nest. When workers forage for food for the queen and her young then often enter the house and become a nuisance.
Colony Structure: Each colony of pavement ants contains thousands of workers and multiple queens. Swarming of reproductives can take place any time of the year, but usually takes place in Spring.
Control: A baiting process is used. Bait is in liquid form, used on cracks and crevices. This process takes a bit longer but is more effective in finding and deleting the colony.
Tips to Reduce the Number of Pavement Ants without Pesticides
1. To reduce the number of Pavement Ants without resorting to pesticides what you want to do is to limit the amount of food and water available to the ants.
2. Do not leave pet food, whether dry or wet out at night.
3. Do not leave water bowls for pets out at night
4. If you need to leave pet food or water bowls out at night, put a band of masking tape around the bottom of the bowl with the sticky side facing out. This will trap the ants and they will no longer come to the bowls to feed and drink
5. Do not leave cookies, candies, etc out at night. Put them in the fridge
6. Clean out the bottom of your toaster, toaster oven, broiler oven, etc.
7. Clean your windowsills, ceiling lights, etc of dead flies, etc.
8. Do not leave fruit such as bananas, apples, and oranges out at night
9. Check to make sure there is not a build up of water in the condensation pan of your refrigerator
10. Put vegetables such as potatoes, onions in sealed containers
11. Check the taps turn off fully and are not dripping
12. Check hot water tank for drips at over flow
13. Clean breadboards, bread canisters, etc.
14. Store chocolates, nuts, candies, etc in sealed containers
15. Clean grease from sides of stoves and ovens and from pots and pans stored in oven storage area
16. Seal area around pipes in kitchen and bathroom or put a strip of masking tape, sticky side out around pipes
17. Clean baby bottles and nipples after use and store in baggies