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Inconsistent Pavement Ant Activity #874360

Asked June 24, 2024, 12:28 AM EDT

We have a colony of ants that occasionally come out on our walkway/sidewalk in the evening. Some nights they don’t come out (that we see). Do you know why their above ground activity is so inconsistent even when the temperatures are relatively consistent? Thanks!

Deschutes County Oregon

Expert Response

Hi Elayna,
Well, I don't know that answer for sure, but I have a few ideas. 

First, the mass eruptions of pavement ants as in your photo usually happen during fights among competing colonies. Perhaps intruders from other colonies are only detected occasionally and that is when you see the ants above ground.

Pavement ants are also attracted by food and large numbers can also sometimes be seen when the ants are out foraging. So you may see more or less ants depending on whether they have detected a nearby food source or not.

Here are a couple links with more information about pavement ants if you are interested...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetramorium_immigrans
https://bybio.wordpress.com/2014/07/22/ant-wars/
https://extension.usu.edu/planthealth/research/pavement-ants

Hope that helps a bit...
Bill Gerth Replied July 23, 2024, 6:49 PM EDT

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