Californians Prepare! These 10 Ants Are Set to Emerge This Summer

There are over 12,000 species of ants worldwide and about 300 known species in the golden state of California. Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and belong to the family Hymenoptera, along with bees and wasps. 

Below are ten different species of ants to look out for if you live in California.

 Argentine

Linepithema humile 

Argentines are one of the world’s most problematic ant species. They act aggressive and territorial and are not poisonous but will bite people. They appear brownish and stretch to about 1/8th of an inch. The Argentine invades houses persistently and gets through tiny cracks into people’speople’s homes. 

The Argentine is native to northern Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Southern Brazil. They are an invasive species known for displacing native ants and are the most troublesome home-infesting pests. These insects live in shallow galleries in the ground, often only a few inches deep. A single colony will have multiple queens and grow rapidly as they displace other ant species. 

During the heat of the Summer in California, Argentines may even temporarily establish themselves inside homes under carpets, attic insulation, walls, and potted plants. 

Carpenter  

Camponotus

Carpenters are one of the more giant ants that invade homes and are usually ¼ to ½ inch in size. These giants are indigenous to many forested parts of the world. They build nests inside the wood and chew through it to make galleries with their jaw. These insects prefer dead and amp wood to chew through; unlike termites, they do not consume wood. Therefore, Carpenters will not infest dead trees, telephone poles, and houses.

You will also find them in lawns and will feed on other insects with a fondness for anything sweet. Each carpenter colony has one queen, with a colony containing over 3,000 workers. When they enter houses, damage may be severe and require extensive repairs. 

Carpenters usually come into buildings through cracks around doors and windows or plumbing and electrical penetrations in the home. However, they will also crawl outdoors along overhead wires, shrubs, or tree limbs that touch buildings above ground and enter through small openings. Unfortunately, carpenters nest deep within the structure of people’speople’s homes and are, therefore, difficult to remove by oneself. 

Harvester

Pogonomyrmex californicus

Harvester is a common name for any species or genera of ants that collect seeds. The California variety of the harvester (Pogonomyrmex californicus) is 1/4th inch in size and red colored. You will find their nest underground containing a small mound at the opening littered with leftover food debris.

These insects generally seek seeds as a primary source of food. In the winter, the harvester nest is sealed off, and no activity is seen, but they start to become active in the Summer. The harvester can sting, and these vicious insects can kill miniature pigs with sudden and malicious attacks. Harvesters will go after people or small animals that get too close to their nest. 

Little Black  

Monomorium minimum 

The little black ant is a species native to North America. They are about 1/16th inch and colored dark brown to black. Monomorium minimums build nests underground, under tree bark, beneath rocks, and even infest woodwork in buildings. These ants will nest indoors and outdoors, building nests in lawns and vacant lots.

Their favorite food is incest honeydew, but if they make their way into your home, these insects will go after anything sweet like grease, sweets, meat, fruits, and vegetables. They will even eat other insects, dead and alive. In the Summer, these little guys start swarming and reproducing new colonies. Each colony of the little black will grow quite large and eventually contain multiple queens. 

Odorous House

Tapinoma sessile

These tiny ants go by their more common names, odorous house ant, stink ant, sugar ant, and coconut ant. They is about 1/8th inch and dark brown to black. This small non-stinging ant gets their name from the rotten coconut-like odor released when crushed. They routinely invade houses searching for any sticky food they can find when their usual honeydew is gone. Colonies contain multiple queens and a few thousand workers like the Argentine. They nest under stones and pavement but also establish themselves inside houses too. 

Pharaoh

Monomorium pharaonis 

The pharaoh is small yellow, or light brown, and notorious for being a major indoor nuisance pest to hospitals. This insect can survive almost all conventional household control treatments. They are minimal, less than 1/16th inch, and described as yellowish to brownish. It loves fatty and greasy foods like meats and sweets. It spreads bacteria as a predator to many other insects. 

Red Imported Fire  

Solenopsis invicta 

These ants can cause destruction, and two species have crept into California. The red imported fire is ¼th inch in size and vary reddish and black. They build large mounds on the earth, growing 20-30 colonies per acre. The banks they create stretch one foot high, but some have been reported to reach eight feet tall. One mound can have 30,000 to 100,000 workers. These insects feed on plants like tree bark and significantly damage crops. They also feed on other insects, eggs, and young birds in ground nests. 

They are notorious for their painful sting. Red imported fire’s are highly aggressive, and their stings can even be fatal when attacked in large numbers. They like to attack humans and animals, and their sting feels like fire. 

Southern Fire  

Solenopsis xyloni 

The Southern fire, also known as the California cotton ant, is a stinging fire ant in southern parts of the United States. It is smaller than the red imported fire, but its sting is painful. They are 1/4th of an inch long and have reddish brown or black coloring. The mound they build is usually under objects like stones, boards, or anything on the ground that provides cover. They will also get into the masonry of a house and build mounds there. It’sIt’s reported that these insects have eaten rubber insulation off electrical wiring, which causes shorts in the wiring. 

Thief  

Solenopsis molesta 

Thiefs get their name from their habit of nesting close to other species nests, where they will steal food. They are also called grease ants because they are attracted to grease. Nuptial flight of these species happens in Summer from late July to early fall. Thiefs are tiny, about 1/16th of an inch, and pale brownish. Their size makes it easy for them to squeeze through the cracks of homes in search of meat, cheese, or any other greasy food.

They also like to eat dead insects, and they nest their galleries in the dirt, usually near other ant colonies, so that they can steal their food. The thief makes their way into people’speople’s homes inside walls, cupboards, cracks, and crevices of structures. They will host food, and their colonies can host from a few hundred to a few thousand ants. Queens will lay about 100 eggs that incubate for 16-28 days. The larvae stage varies with the temperature and will continue to develop for three weeks.

Velvety Tree Ant 

Liometopum apiculatum

The omnivorous velvety tree ants are members of the ant subfamily Dolichoderinae. The ants possess a single node and create polymorphic colonies with multiple queens. As their name suggests, these ants nest in trees, usually beside streams or creeks. This ant will invade homes and have bits that inject poison into their victim. 

Why Are Ants Important?

Ants are one of the world’s most abundant insects, with a total population size of an estimated one quadrillion (1,000,000,000,000,000). In every thousand insects, one of them is an ant. Their numbers compensate for their tiny size and presence in nature, and their actions toward the environment are essential to all habitats where they live. 

These creatures play a crucial role on our planet both ecologically and economically. They play an essential part in the natural world and play a vital role in maintaining the health of ecosystems. They turn and aerate the soil, allowing water and oxygen to reach plant roots. When ants dig galleries and tunnels, ants help aerate the soil. They till the soil by bringing pebbles and particles to the top. It also allows water and oxygen to reach plant roots.

 These insects are also crucial in seed dispersal. Ants take seeds down into their tunnel to eat the nutritious elaiosomes that are part of the seed. The sources taken into the ant’s tunnel become buried and often sprout and grow new plants. 

In addition to aerating the soil and aiding in seed dispersal, they also play an important role as decomposers. They feed on organic waste, such as insects or other dead animals. They help keep the environment clean. Carpenters who make their nests in dead and diseased wood considerably accelerate the decomposition process of timber. After the ants leave, fungi and bacteria grow in the galleries, breaking down the lignin cellulose on large surfaces. 

Ants are prey as well as predators of other insects and their eggs. In addition, ants are a food source for other invertebrates and vertebrates, including woodpeckers and insectivorous insects in their natural habitat. 

Fun Facts

1. The bullet ant is said to have the most painful sting in the world. It lives in humid jungles like the Amazon, and the sting feeling has been compared to being hit by a bullet. 
2. Fire ants cause 3 billion worth of damages per year. They have also been known to cause harm to crops.
3. Ants are the longest-living insect, and the Pgonomyrmex Owyheei live up to 30 years.
4. The ant is one of the strongest creatures of its size. A single ant can carry up to 50 times its body weight and will work together to move bigger objects as a group. 
5. You can find ants on every continent except for Antarctica.
6. Ants are social insects that live in colonies. The colonies comprise one or more egg-laying queens and many female worker ants who tend to her, build and maintain the nest, forage for food, and care for the young. Male ants have wings, and their only function is to mate with the queen. 
7. The most giant ant nest ever found was over 3,700 miles wide. 
8. A Harvard and Florida State University study discovered that ants first rose around 130 million years ago during the Cretaceous period! They have survived the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T extinction) that killed the dinosaurs and the ice age.

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