ANTS

BROWN HOUSE ANT

Pheidole megacephala

They are about 1.5-3.5mm long and are a yellowish-red to reddish-brown
colour. The soldiers of this species have a large head and often the
workers will remove the heads of the soldiers during winter as it is
easier to breed new soldiers than to feed the old ones. They often nest
in the crack between a buildings foundation and the soil. They mainly
live outside but very often enter our home on foraging for food and
water. They can often be found in pot plants. These ants eat sweet and
protein food stuffs and mainly forage at night.

COCKTAIL ANT

Crematogaster peringueyi

These ants are roughly 3-6mm long. They are a darkish brown to almost
black colour. They tend to raise their abdomen above their thorax and
release a repulsive odour when threatened. Their colonies tend be small.
These ants prefer to eat sweet foods and will often tend to aphids for
their honeydew secretions.

PUGNACIOUS ANT

Anoplolepis custodiens

Also referred to as ” Malmier’. These ants are about 2-10mm in size with
a reddish brown colour with the head being more saturated red than the
body. These ants are very aggressive and predatory and tend to dominate
other ant species in their vicinity. They prefer to eat sweet
carbohydrate foods and thus they ‘farm’ Aphids and Coccids for their
honeydew. This can lead to an outbreak of Aphids on plants. These ants
live outdoors and nest underground with no visible mounds surrounding
their nests entry points.

ARGENTINE ANT

Linepithema humile

The adults are about 2.2-3.8mm long. They are light to dark brown in
colour. They have multiple queens per colony, about 1 queen per 100
ants. They prefer to eat sweet foods and can often be found “farming”
with aphids. They stop foraging when it gets above 30°C. These ants were
accidentally introduced to South Africa in the 1900’s from South
America by the British cavalry where the ants would live amongst the
imported horse fodder.

PHAROAH ANT

Monimorium pharaonis

These ants are about 1.5-2mm long. They are a yellow orange colour with a
darkened abdomen. Their colonies can become very large, into the
hundreds of thousands. They prefer to nest in warm, protected areas near
food and water. They tend to forage at night and prefer to eat protein
foods. They can often be found feeding on pet food that has been left
outside. They are dangerous vectors for disease due to their foraging
habits.

Recommended for Ants

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