Help me identify this ant! Or maybe it's not an ant?
It has a strange skinny midsection and a large rear-end.
It's the size of a normal large black ant, but it really doesn't look like a normal black ant.
It reminds me of a small wasp, but it doesn't have wings.
We have suddenly got lots of these little buggers appearing inside and outside.
It's got some serious pinchers that you can see in the second photo below. I wouldn't want it to bite me.
Thank you for your help! I want these little guys gone!
10 comments:
Looks like a carpenter ant to me. They are a pain in the b... I have heard placing salt where they are coming in stops them but have not tested that theory.
I thought it was a carpenter ant at first, also.
I'm one of those weirdos that loves bugs, so I did some research for you. I think it might be an acrobat ant. Only because it has two segments between it's front end and back end.
http://flrec.ifas.ufl.edu/entomo/ants/ant_anatomy.htm
http://www.pestcontrol-products.com/ant_facts.htm
Gail - After I posted this I continued to do research and I also determined this was a black carpenter ant.
CeeCee - Amazing! Thank you! I know know all sorts of things about ants - like thir butt section is called a gaster! And the skinny part is called a petiole. Who knew? You're right, my ant has a post-petiolar node. I don't see that in carpenter ant photos. So mine must be an acrobat ant!!! How nice, I have an acrobat in the house!
In a previous house we had like a hundred thousand carpenter ants appear in our kitchen one day. I called the exterminator who came right out & said they were carpenter ants & sprayed for them. But they didn't look anything like these acrobat ants that are starting to show up here at this house. They didn't have the post-petiolar node, from what I can remember. And they were bigger than my current ants. My ants are very slow moving. Easy to catch & kill. I see my ants outside in the yard, and now they are starting to make an appearance inside, too. it's time for that exterminator to make an appearance. We have to get treated for termites anyway. Even though we don't think we have termites, we still get treated every year because it's a very old house in the middle of the woods.
Thanks again for helping! This was awesome! I know who to turn to for help identifying insects!!
~Lynn
I did not see pincers on the acrobat ant though on websites I googled. There was a worker ant that had the pincers and that was a carpenter ant. Hope you figure it out as it looks nasty.
Nancy is right, the mystery continues! :) Maybe you have a new species of ant? Wouldn't that be cool!
Nancy - Uh oh. now I'm not sure what it is. I just want to get rid of the ants!
CeeCee - A new species - no, that's not cool! There's too many bugs around here, now new species are popping up, too!!!
~Lynn
I am curious now...what is it???
This has been a strange year for insects here. Many have shown up that we have never seen before and none of our collective knowledge nor internet skills can identify.
The wasps are more agressive, the good bugs are rare and the strange bugs are taking over. Imagine how bad it would be without all our blessed insect eaters.
Ugg. The picture of it makes me hurly. I really don't like insects. What are you going to name your hoards of carpenter ants?
My first thought was carpenter ant too!
Post a Comment