Mississippi has plenty of space for all sorts of plants and animals to thrive, including some unique varieties of ants.
Did you know there are over 13 types of ants in Mississippi alone?
These include but are not limited to fire ants, carpenter ants, harvester ants, leaf cutter ants, and odorous house ants.
Suppose you wonder which type of ant has invaded your home.
In that case, this is a complete guide to the 13 types of ants in Mississippi that will help you identify the infestation and take action immediately to eliminate them.
1. Carpenter Ant
Carpenter Ants are about 1/4 inch long and have a reddish-brown color. They nest in moist, decaying wood. The female carpenter ant has a much larger abdomen than the male one.
Carpenter ants are attracted to sweet substances like honey, syrup, soda, and fruit juice. If you have these things lying around countertops or tables, they will be drawn to them and invade your home.
They are pests from their natural habitat because they feed on items like timber and plants inside their homes.
These different types of ants in Mississippi can also cause damage by chewing through the wood; it creates holes that may compromise the structure and lead to mold growth.
There are ways you can tell if you’ve got a problem with carpenter ants–they’re complicated to see until they swarm around small pieces of food.
2. Argentine Ant
Argentine Ants are some of the most common ants in the United States. They are small and black, with a narrow waist.
Argentine Ants typically live outdoors but sometimes enter homes through cracks near doors, windows, or other openings.
If you have an infestation, it’s essential to identify which type of ant you’re dealing with so that you can take appropriate measures to eradicate them from your property.
A professional exterminator should be able to determine what type of ant you have by looking at where they are located and how they behave.
These ants in Mississippi may occasionally nest outside, under mulch, stones, or logs.
You may also see swarms during the mating season if they are disturbed by people. While not as aggressive as Pharaoh Ants, Argentine Ants still present a serious threat because they prefer sweet substances such as honeydew (excrement left behind after eating plant material) and fruit juice.
3. Pharaoh Ant
Pharaoh Ants are the most common type of ants in Mississippian homes. They are small, slender, and brownish-red.
They are known for their distinctive marching ability, which allows them to move quickly through a building’s structure.
Pharaoh Ants will eat almost anything and live on any food source, including honeydew from aphids and other insects.
They are also intensely attracted to different types of food, such as sweets, grease, and milk products.
Their colonies can quickly expand because they do not require contact with another colony to reproduce.
Pharaoh Ants don’t build nests, so you won’t see one by looking for it; however, you can spot them if you notice a trail of tiny objects (food particles) leading somewhere near your home.
4. Thief Ant
Thief Ants are the most common household ant. They are scavengers that feed on dead insects, plants, and other materials.
These ants in Mississippi will eat just about anything, so be careful what you leave out where they can get to it!
Thief Ants have a powerful sense of smell and will follow the scent trails left by other animals and humans to locate food sources.
Thief Ants usually nest outdoors under stones or logs but sometimes enter homes during hot weather or when their normal nesting site has been disturbed.
The colony size for this type of ant ranges from 20-2000 members, with an average size being approximately 300 workers.
To protect themselves against enemies such as birds and mammals, thief ants secrete formic acid, which can sting predators if they come too close.
They also produce various types of venom, which is used to subdue prey before feeding time begins. The black variety of thief ants lacks pigment and cannot produce honeydew like other ants; however, these insects remain valuable because they aid digestion.
5. Pavement Ant
Pavement Ants are an invasive species that has quickly spread to most parts of the United States. These ants can be tough to spot because they stay hidden within cracks and crevices, even indoors.
They also make their homes out of a hard substance called propolis, which gives them the name propolis-building ants.
Unlike other types of ants in Mississippi, Pavement Ants are not social insects and do not live in colonies with a queen; instead, they usually only have a single female.
The females are wingless and cannot fly. When mating season arrives, a few males mate with the female and leave.
The fertilized female lays eggs that hatch into nymphs (baby ants). Larvae then undergo several molts as they grow into adults over time.
Mating between these types of ants does not require contact between partners. Some pheromones will be released, which signals mating to take place!
6. Field Ant
Field Ants are the most common ants found in the southern United States. They’re usually brownish-black and about 1/8 inch long. These ants live outdoors but will sometimes enter buildings during hot weather.
Field Ants nest underground and prefer to eat sugar, honeydew, seeds, small insects, and other types of sweets.
These different types of ants in Mississippi reproduce through colony division. Queen field ants can lay up to 12,000 eggs a day, depending on the size of their abdomen.
Nymphs hatch from eggs and grow into adults after 10-30 days. When worker field ants mature, they take over tasks like caring for their queen or gathering food.
Worker field ants don’t go out to hunt like other ants; they search for food around their nests. If worker field ants encounter prey too large to drag back inside their nests, they’ll wait until others help them carry it around.
7. Harvester Ant
Harvester ants are black ants that live primarily on the ground. They can be found throughout the United States but are more prevalent in the southern states.
These types of ants in Mississippi are small and typically brown or black, with queens growing up to 1/4 inch long and workers that grow up to 1/8 inch long.
They have a similar physical structure as other species, with a head, thorax, abdomen, and six legs. However, harvester ants do not sting or bite humans unless provoked.
Instead, they use their powerful jaws to cut off leaves from plants for food and carry them back to their nests on their stomachs or between their jaws.
In addition, harvester ants also make their food through decomposition. If you live in an area with fire ants, it’s best to keep your pets away from These ants in Mississippi because they may secrete formic acid when threatened.
If you see large swarms of harvester ants coming out of holes in the ground around your house, don’t worry; this means that there is no nearby threat, and it should dissipate within a few days.
8. Sugar Ant
Sugar ants, also called sugar bugs or caramel, are tiny, brown-colored insects with oval-shaped heads, no visible eyes, and large mandibles.
They are not known to sting or bite humans, but they can be very annoying when they invade homes and businesses by chewing on wood, paper, and anything else they can find.
Sugar ants feed on sweet substances such as honeydew from aphids and other insects.
Sugar Ants are found throughout the US, but their populations are denser in warmer climates where more food sources are available year-round. In colder regions, sugar ants hibernate during winter months.
Unlike many types of ants in Mississippi, which prefer nesting outdoors in moist soil near water sources or trees, sugar ants usually nest indoors close to food and water supplies, including garbage cans, drains, and pet bowls.
Colonies of these invasive pests are difficult to eradicate because they can quickly form new nests when you eliminate them from the current location.
Preventing infestations before they start is much easier than trying to get rid of established colonies!
9. Fire Ant
Fire Ants are the most common type of ant found in Mississippi, mainly because they are resistant to most pesticides.
Fire Ants typically nest underground, with only the queen and male ants living aboveground. They like to eat other insects, seeds, fruits, and vegetables.
These different types of ants in Mississippi can produce up to four times their weight in food per day- meaning a colony of less than ten fire ants will have more than 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of food daily!
It’s not just the size that makes fire ants so difficult to get rid of- they also have an unpleasant sting that can be pretty painful!
The good news is that with aggressive treatment, there’s a 99% chance that fire ant populations will be eradicated within two years.
Here are some tips for identifying fire ants: Fire Ants have small thoraxes but large abdomens and six legs; most types of ants in Mississippi do not have six legs. Fire Ant colonies tend to be underground and hidden; if you notice the presence of hundreds or thousands of workers, it is likely a fire ant colony.
Fire Ant mounds are cone-shaped piles consisting primarily of pebbles with multiple tunnels leading out from the center.
10. Ghost Ant
Ghost Ants are a type of ant that invade homes. They are typically found in the southeastern United States and have gradually migrated northward.
They can be recognized by their light brown color, long, slender body, and two node-like projections at the base of their abdomen.
These ants in Mississippi feed primarily on liquid foods and do not eat solid foods. They prefer to nest outdoors under objects such as rocks or fallen trees but will also nest indoors if they find a suitable location, like an abandoned rodent hole or space between walls.
When they enter homes, they are usually more interested in sugar-containing foods than other types of food.
Ghost Ants may also consume grease, proteinaceous foods, and sweet drinks. Their nests may contain multiple queens (which lay eggs) and workers and soldiers who defend the colony from intruders.
A Ghost Ant colony will sometimes split into two colonies after it reaches a specific size or when there isn’t enough room for all the larvae to develop correctly.
11. Little Black Ant
The most common type of ant in Mississippi is the Little Black Ant. These pests are also sugar ants, pavement ants, and field ants.
The Little Black Ants are more prevalent than other types of ants in the state because they thrive around humans, although they will infest other areas if given the opportunity.
They are a nuisance when they invade homes and other buildings because they feed on sweets and attract them like magnets.
A Little Black Ant colony consists of queens and male and female workers who work hard to keep their population going.
If you have had problems with ants at your house before, you know how difficult it can be to eliminate these insects without some chemical assistance.
12. Odorous House Ant
The Odorous House Ants are often mistaken for other types because they appear similar. The ants are black and brown, but they have more prominent spines on their body than most other types of ants in Mississippi.
These spines can irritate if they come into contact with skin or eyes.
In addition to the distinctive spines, these ants have a pungent odor. This smell will become stronger when the colony becomes disturbed by humans or pets walking on the ground around the nest.
The Odorous House Ants are considered pests because they can cause significant disruptions to homeowners and professional construction workers when nests get built inside homes and buildings.
13. Acrobat Ant
Acrobat Ants are tiny ants that live mainly on the ground and are attracted to sweet foods. They will enter homes through cracks and crevices, which can be a big problem when they invade homes. They don’t sting, but they can bite if they feel threatened.
You can tell an acrobat ant by its long, thin body, long legs, and narrow waist with a heart-shaped abdomen.
A simple way to identify an acrobat ant is by how it moves – it crawls upside down using its long legs as hooks or claws.
When you see these ants in Mississippi crawling around your kitchen, eliminate all food sources like sugary drinks or pastries and acrobat ants like these types of sweets.
If you want to use insecticide, ensure it’s labeled for indoor use only because some sprays might not work correctly outside.
