PAVEMENT ANTS

Identification, Facts, & Control

Latin Name

Tetramorium caespitum

Appearance

Pavement Ants - Ryan Hodnett [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)]

1/8' long and light brown to black in color

Pavement Ant - Light brown to blackish in color. Workers are about 1/8". The head and thorax have fine distinct parallel lines. Nests in soil beneath stones, pavements, and slab-on-grade foundations; occasionally in walls, under floors, and elsewhere. An extremely slow moving ant which is a great nuisance because of slab-on-grade construction. Works through cracks in slabs to enter houses. They forage as individuals and do not travel in trails.

Control of the Pavement Ant:

Whenever possible, residual sprays should be forced into the entry point with drilling if necessary.
Where heating ducts are the entry point, it may be necessary to use baits which will be more effective in the ducts than they will be in other parts of the structure.
Sticky traps such as glue boards may be helpful, but they will soon get a coating of dirt and become ineffective.
Regular treatments of the mounds as seen along the sidewalk and pavement outside can reduce the likelihood of an interior infestation.

Click on a species of ants below to learn further information.