The Allegheny Mound Ant

HOW TO IDENTIFY ALLEGHENY MOUND ANTS. By Judy Gallagher – , CC BY 2.0,
Allegheny mound ants (Formica exsectoides) are native to the Atlantic area of North America. They are field ants that can build impressive mounds in open areas. They are common in the Midwest and Northeast. Allegheny mound ants are known to build some of the largest ant mounds in the world.
These ants are aggressive, and will definitely bite even if slightly disturbed. They rarely enter homes, but having an ant mound close to human living quarters can be risky.
HOW TO IDENTIFY ALLEGHENY MOUND ANTS
- Their appearance is striking, with a read head and thorax, and a black abdomen
- The long legs are black in colour as well
- Can be of length varying from 3.2mm to 6.mm
Appearance, Behavior, and Signs of Allegheny Mound Ants
- These ants are field ants, which mean they exclusively live in mounds.
- An Allegheny ant mound will often have no vegetation around it, as these ants inject formic acid into the nearby plants, effectively killing them.
- The mounds can be more than 1m tall, 5m wide and 1m deep into the soil. They are made of sand particles and are often interconnected.
- Allegheny mound ants eat a variety of arthropods along with the sweet honeydew of aphids.
- These ants give off a pungent formic acid odor if disturbed.
- These ants need sunlight to survive, which is why they destroy all the vegetation (that can give shade) are around 50 feet near the mound.
- If you have mounds very close to your house, you might see a few stray ants wandering inside. Sighting of these ants is often the best indicator of their presence.
- Allegheny mound ant can come in trails inside the house if there is suitable prey (such as insects).
- floorboards or walls nearby. Acrobat ants will immediately seize this opportunity and build a nest there.