The ants come marching one by one

/in /by

SnipImage

This time of the year, I get a steady stream of people calling about ants in the kitchen, laundry room or just crawling around everywhere in doors and out. Ants are also attracted to an area that offers shelter, water, proteins and carbohydrates and protection for their queen and their colony as a whole. The rule of thumb is that for every one ant you see there are another hundred that you don’t see. That one ant you see is part of a colony that contains from a hundred to a couple thousand ants all with different job titles. Each nest usually consists of 5 different ranking ants. The first is the queen, the ruler and the fertile ant female. All the other ants actively protect, feed and serve her. The queen is responsible for making egg; the most important job in the colony. Next are the fertile ant males or drones. These ants are responsible for impregnating the queen. Next in line is the soldier ants, their mission are to serve and protect. Second from last are the worker ants, these ants actively look for food, build the nest and help in the colony. Last and least, we have the scout ants; they look for suitable places to start or expand a colony and leave pheromone behind them for other ants to follow. Now you know the hierarchy of the colony. Getting rid of and killing ants is fairly easy when you know how.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ants-come-marching-one-randy-bilesky?published=t

http://www.delta-optimist.com/opinion/blogs/blog-the-ants-come-marching-one-by-one-1.2322971