COMMON INSECTS - Ants
Description
Carpenter ant workers are about 6 – 12mm long, dull black with reddish legs and golden hairs covering the abdomen. Queens are about 16mm long. Other colour combinations of carpenter ants can be of red and black, or completely red or brown.
Biology
Carpenter ant colonies usually contain over 3,000 workers and will reach maturity in about 3 to 6 years. Full development from egg to adult takes at least 60 days for the worker ants. Swarmers appear in spring and summer months.
Habit
Carpenter ants live both inside and out and make their home in moist decaying wood. Outside nests are typically located in rotting fence posts, stumps, old firewood, dead portions of standing trees, and under stones or fallen logs.
Description
Both native and imported fire ants are small, dark orange/brown ants containing workers of various sizes. When their mound is disturbed the will quickly gather and attack as a large group.
Biology
Total time from egg to adult is approx 30 days. The workers can live up to 180 days and the queens live from two to six years.
Habit
A typical fire ant colony builds large mounds in open areas, often near moist areas, and feeds mostly on young plants, seeds and other insects. Fire ants often attack small animals and can kill them.
