Ants from the same nest work together and stick to established foraging routes.
Different species of ants build their nests in different locations, with some preferring outdoor nests in soil and other preferring to share our homes and make their nests in hidden places indoors. Most ants fall into the nuisance category and cause little damage, while others, such as carpenter ants, can weaken the wood in buildings and therefore need tighter control to avoid damage to property. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Follow the ants. If you notice ants inside the home, it's likely they entered to forage for food and have their nests outside. Ants like to keep to regular routes from their nest to a food source, so by watching the behavior of ants you can locate their nest. Look for ants carrying food scraps rather than ants that have nothing. Follow the ants with food to see where they go. Encourage foraging by setting out suitable food for your particular ant species.
2. Ants prefer to walk along protected routes so will follow natural contours and will walk around the edges of objects rather than take a more direct route such as across the middle of a lawn or patio. If ants are not immediately obvious out in the open when you're searching for an ant nest, check the edges of driveways or flower beds, along mowing strips or the edges of sidewalks and under planters or fences.
3. Search for other evidence of an ant nest. Carpenter ants chew wood, so indications of the presence of a nest include sawdust, or frass, which is the waste material ants throw out of their nests. This waste material may be seen caught in spider webs, under decks or soffits or in crawlspaces or basements. In the case of carpenter ants, you must find and remove satellite nests as well as the main nest. Satellite nests can be in trees or logs, roots or tree stumps. Ants carry larvae from the main nest to a satellite nest when they're establishing a new colony, so look for this behavior and try to trace the ants carrying larvae back to the main nest.
4. Listen for ants. Wood-chewing ants, such as carpenter ants, make rustling, chewing noises in the home. When the house is very quiet, you may be able to hear them. If you have a medical stethoscope, you can use this to help you to hear them, but be aware that ordinary household noises can be misleading. Good places to start looking for ants indoors include around the fireplace, inside electrical outlets, around the sink or shower areas or areas hidden by vegetation.
Tags: their nests, main nest, ants carrying, carpenter ants, Follow ants, hear them