Crazy Ants

Crazy Ants 2-3 mm (1/12-1/8 in) long. The body has long coarse hairs. These ants are easily recognized by extremely long legs and antenna. Crazy ants get their name because they seem to run erratically with no apparent sense of direction .

Crazy Ants are Medium-sized reddish-brown, grayish to blackish ant. Workers of any one species all similar in size. Run erratically and quickly. Long and slender, with long legs and antennae has especially long appendages. Usually seen in large numbers running erratically, so distinct trails are difficult to discriminate.

Their colonies consist of up to 2,000 workers and as many as 40 queens. Crazy ants are found in every state in the U.S.

These ants are specialists at finding and occupying flimsy and unstable nest sites. They’ll often locate their nests under trash and debris, remain a few days or weeks, and then move on. Their ability to move their nest quickly is one of the reasons they are hard to control.Outside, nests can be found in debris piles, tree holes, mulch, rotten wood, or in soil under objects, including sidewalks. Inside, crazy ants will nest in voids or foundation walls, under floors, behind baseboards and window frames, near hot water pipes, and in potted plants.

The crazy ant is extremely easy to identify on sight by observing its rapid and erratic movements. Confirmation may be made with the aid of a hand lens through which the extremely long antennal scape, long legs, and erect setae are very apparent.The slender-bodied, long-legged worker is capable of extremely rapid movement.

Life Cycle : Colonies of crazy ants are moderate to very populous. The colonies may raise sexuals at any time of the year in warmer regions, but in the seasonal climate of north Florida, alate production is apparently limited to the warm rainy months of May through September. On warm, humid evenings, large numbers of males gather outside nest entrances and may mill about excitedly. Workers patrol vegetation and other structures nearby. Periodically, a dealate (wingless) queen emerges. Mating was not observed, Wings of queens are removed while still callow and males were never observed to fly or use their wings in any way. However, in several cases it has been observed that males frequently appear at lights .

Living and dead insects. Collect honeydew from sap-sucking insects and plants. Collect seeds. Forage for sweets, proteins, fats and other food crumbs in homes. P. longicornis may be seasonal in diet preference, preferring proteins in the summer and sweet foods in the spring and fall.

Crazy ants are insects and pests and we don’t care that they are nice to the little aphids. Another reason they are called Crazy ants is because they can drive you mad with their infestations.Inspect the entire property, locating as many nests as possible. Crazy ants will travel a considerable distance when foraging, so a diligent search is very important.While inspecting for crazy ant colonies, you should also locate as many entry points as possible. Tree limbs or other vegetation touching the structure are “bridges” for these tiny pests. They have also been observed living in small pebbles or other such materials on buildings that have a flat roof.Inspecting indoors, simply follow the ant trails to locate the walls where they are entering the structure or where they might have an indoor nest.

If you ever have any bug related issues in New York City, feel free to call us either at Beyond Pest Control. Once again, and I can’t stress this enough we are on call twenty four hours a day seven days a week to kill those bugs, we aren’t kidding whether you call us at 9 am or midnight we will be available to take your call and either get rid of the bug infestation, or answer any questions you may have concerning the bug issue. I can honestly guarantee that there will be someone to answer that call. We make it our business to make you bug free!

If you have any questions about how to get rid of ants check out the rest of our website or go to our blog at http://nypestpro.blogspot.com.

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