Fun facts about ants and information about ants for kids (2023)

Diet:

Argentine ants prefer sweet substances, but will eat almost anything, including meats, eggs, oils, and fats. Also, when foraging for food, Argentine ants leave pheromone trails wherever they go, rather than just from the nest to the food source. This habit ensures that they don't waste time visiting the same area twice. While in other ant species the workers are primarily responsible for gathering food, the Argentine queens also assist in foraging.

Habitat:

Argentina ant colonies are found in moist environments near a food source. These colonies can reach monumental size, sometimes covering entire habitats, such as an entire garden or entire backyard.

Impact:

Argentine ants do not pose a health threat, but they can contaminate food by leaving behind their bodily waste.

Prevention:

• Dispose of standing water. Argentine ants, like mosquitoes and termites, are attracted to moisture.
• Keep tree limbs and other trimmed plants away from the house. Ants sometimes use these branches to get into your house.
• Make sure there are no cracks or small openings at the bottom of your house. Ants sometimes use this to get into your house.
• Make sure firewood and building materials are not stored near your home. Argentine ants like to build nests in piles of wood.

Teachers, are you looking for more instructional materials to share with your students? Find additional information atArgentine antson the official NPMA website.

Diet:

Carpenter ants do not eat the wood they remove during their nest-building activities, but instead deposit it outside the colony entrances in small piles. The diet of carpenter ants includes live and dead insects, meat, fats, and sugary foods of all kinds, including honeydew and plant nectar.

Habitat:

Carpenter ants build nests anywhere they can find water and moldy or damp wood, such as tree stumps, firewood, or in the plants around your home. Carpenter ants also build nests indoors, often entering buildings through damp and damaged wood, although it is not uncommon for them to adapt to drier environments.

Impact:

Carpenter ants do not transmit disease, but when they build a nest inside a house, carpenter ants dig smooth tunnels into the wood. These tunnels weaken the wood and can damage the wood that holds the house together. This type of damage can be very expensive to repair.

Prevention:

• Discard any standing water, as this can attract carpenter ants.
• Make sure that tree branches and plants do not touch your property, as ants can use them to enter your home.
• Seal any cracks or openings near the bottom of your house.
• Keep building materials and firewood away from your home, as ants can use them to build a nest.

School teachers: are you interested in more materials on ants and insects to share with your students? Find additional information atcarpenter antson the official NPMA website.

Diet:

Stinky house ants like to eat dead insects and sugary sweets, especially cantaloupe.

Habitat:

These ants typically live for several years and often build their homes in exposed soil, under rocks, logs, mulch, debris, and other items. They will also nest in cracks in the wall and floor.

Impact:

Foul-smelling house ants do not pose a health threat, but they can contaminate food by leaving residue.

Prevention:

• Since ants are attracted to moisture, remove all standing water near your property.
• Ants can use tree branches to get into your house. Cut back any plants that may be touching your property.
• Seal cracks and other openings at the bottom of your property to prevent ants from using them to enter your home.
• The ants often use building materials or firewood to create nests.

Find more educational materials to use in your classroom, including a profile onodorous ants, on the official website of the NPMA.

Diet:

These ants will eat almost anything, including insects, grease, seeds, molasses, honey, bread, meats, nuts, and cheese.

Habitat:

This ant gets its name because it tends to nest in the ground near and under flagstones, sidewalks, patios, and driveways. Indoors, sidewalk ants nest under a building's foundation and within hollow foundation walls.

Impact:

Sidewalk ants do not pose a health threat, but they can contaminate food by leaving residue.

Prevention:

• Eliminate all standing water near the house, as ants (as well as other insects like mosquitoes and termites) are attracted to moisture.
• Cut back plants and tree limbs that may be touching the house.
• Seal any cracks or openings that ants may be using to get into the house.
• Ants can use firewood and building materials to build nests. Be sure to keep these types of materials out of your home.

Find more information atsidewalk antsto share with the children in your classroom on the official NPMA website.

Diet:

They feed mainly on vegetation.

Habitat:

Red imported fire ants will build their nests on mounds outdoors, in grassy areas, or near a building foundation. They occasionally enter buildings through holes or cracks in the walls and foundations.

Impact:

The bite of an imported fire ant is painful and often produces a welt that develops into a white blister. People allergic to insect bites will react more severely. They are frustrating, not only because of the physical pain they can inflict, but because their mound-building activity can damage plant roots and lead to crop failure.

Prevention: