Pavement Ant Identification & Prevention

Small, brown to black ant 1/16-1/8-inch long that nests beneath concrete slabs.

Description

Pavement ants are common around homes and commercial facilities constructed on concrete slabs. Found foraging along walkways, patios, and porch stoops, primarily where cracks or expansion joints exist. They feed on items such as dead insects, food spillage, and even discarded cigarette butts. Pavement ants carry bits of food through cracks to their underground nests.

Biology And Behavior

• Pavement ants are small, black, shiny ants that are between 1/16 and 1/8 of an inch long.
• Colonies are smaller than similar ant species, but ants can number into the thousands.
• Workers, when viewed with a hand lens, have small grooves on their heads.
• Their heads are large and usually wider than their bodies.
• Workers are capable of biting and stinging but don’t usually do so.
• Their nests are beneath concrete slabs, pavement, and occasionally in hollow block voids.
• They can nest under landscaping stones, stepping stones, walkways, and patios.
• Workers can forage great distances to a food source.
• They will feed on almost anything and are considered omnivorous.