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? carpenter ants #353480

Asked August 15, 2016, 8:49 PM EDT

We may have a "nursery" of carpenter ants along an edge of sidewalk/lawn.  We see winged black adults and red orange multitudes of ants.  Do we need to eradicate them?  Are there environmentally responsible ways to 'uninvite' them?  

Kalkaska County Michigan

Expert Response

Those are not likely to be carpenter ants.  All castes (queens, drones, workers) would be black in color if they were the carpenter ant of your area.  Although I do not know the species of ant, I do recognize the behavior, as the same thing was going on in my backyard last week.  It is swarming season for this species, and colonies over a large area swarm about the same time due to weather patterns.  The winged adults are new queens and drones that will fly off and mate.  Then the new queens will start new colonies.  The vast majority of the flying adults will end up as food for predatory animals.  The swarming activity for a particular species of ants usually lasts for only a few days.
There is usually no need for controlling these small ant species if they are outdoors.  I do not know of a environmentally friendly way to kill them effectively--  methods that don't include pesticides typically don't last for long.

Erwin 'Duke' Elsner, Ph.D. Replied August 22, 2016, 9:17 AM EDT

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