Carpenters are big, benign; fire ants are tiny, ferocious

In Arkansas, there are a few different types of nuisance ants, but by far the most common is Tapinoma sessile, the house ant that has a rotten-coconut smell when crushed.

John Hopkins, an entomologist with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service, says that unlike mosquitoes, ants aren't disease carriers and, other than fire ants, don't do much harm to humans.

But, he says, "If they crawled across something that's objectionable to you and picked up some micro-organism and continued to go on and find a food source -- say, the sandwich you just made -- they could have mechanically transmitted some micro-organisms to that that might not be the best for you."

These ants can do a little good, aerating soil and sometimes eating other pesky insects. But, Hopkins says, that's not enough to make them genuinely helpful.

"Oftentimes, any benefit you get might be offset by the fact that some of these ants would help other pests."

That includes honeydew-producing insects like aphids. Ants have been known to farm and protect aphids from predators, much as humans with cattle, so they can eat the honeydew. Ant and aphid infestations often go hand in hand.

They can wreak costly havoc in other ways, according to Christian Wilcox, technical director with McCauley Services, a pest control company.

"We've seen them get into air-conditioner units and short them out," he says. When ants nest in appliances, "there's so many ants, they'll make an arc and fry the electronics. That's actually pretty common."

TUNNELS

Nuisance ants are one thing. Carpenter ants are something else. Leaky windows, leaking roofs and rotting, moisture-laden wood are all havens for carpenter ants, another ant that just loves to make itself at home.

Unlike the other indoor ants, carpenter ants threaten the structure.

Usually they nest in big hollow trees or stumps, burrowing into the wood. But since they like wood with a high moisture content, water-damaged window frames, walls and roofs will do just as well.

Sometimes people can mistake carpenter ants for termites, but unlike those other wood-loving pests, carpenter ants do not eat or digest wood. They merely excavate it, making a small hole in the wood, creating tunnels and pushing out little pencil shaving-like debris when they do so.

"Also mixed in with that will be other insect parts they've utilized as a food source," Hopkins says. "If you find shavings and insect parts, chances are you've got some carpenter ants working in the area. On the inside.

"On the outside they're really not a pest."

Their size can be alarming for people used to tiny house ants.

Wilcox says, "They can be kind of scary when a homeowner finds 100 of these half-inch ants running around."

ANGRY MENACE

Fast-moving with a powerful stinging bite that's much larger than its small size, the fire ant is the bane of many gardeners, walkers and anyone who loves spending time outside.

Fire ants, which come in red and black varieties, are an invasive species. Both types originated in South America. The black ants first arrived in the United States via the port of Mobile, Ala., in the 1910s. The red ants followed in the 1930s.

There was, essentially, a red-vs.-black war, and the red ants won. The black variety is limited to northern Mississippi and Alabama and some parts of Arkansas along the Mississippi River. Otherwise, red ants proliferate, and in Arkansas they're mostly found south of Interstate 40.

Fire ants aren't likely to come indoors unless a mound is right next to a home's foundation, but they can cause painful problems outside, and Wilcox urges people to educate their children to steer clear of fire ant colonies.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has made efforts to eradicate fire ants but since that failed, they've begun another program, importing parasitic flies (called phorid flies) from South America. The flies target fire ants as nests for their eggs, which eventually hatch and kill the hosts.

Where the flies are most effective, though, is in causing chaos among fire ant workers and reducing their effectiveness as foragers, weakening the colony.

It's a long-term project.

"Our grandchildren probably won't see the end of this," Hopkins says.

-- Jennifer Nixon

HomeStyle on 04/09/2016

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