A total of over 100 species of ants live in Germany and there are even more in Europe. However, it is usually the usual suspects who appear in gardens or even venture into the house. How to recognize the most common ant species.
How do I recognize the most important ants?
Important for identifying ants are thecolorand size of the animals, theirwhereabouts and the behavior of the ants. In addition to ant trails, nest building can also reveal important information. Meadow ants, carpenter ants and carpenter ants can be easily distinguished.
How do I recognize common lawn ants?
The common lawn ant has abrownbody and has distinctive smallgrooves between the upper body and lower body. These animals usually stay in sunny places with a rather dry surface. They value sand or lime. However, these ants avoid clayey soils. The workers of the ant colony are between 2, 5 and 4 millimeters long.
What do shiny black carpenter ants look like?
Shiny black carpenter ants usually have adark shinycolor and brown antennae as well as abrown jaw. In the ant colony itself, the color scheme is somewhat more diverse. There are also animals here with an amber-yellow color. However, you can recognize the ants on the ant trails by their typical shiny black color. The animals live in a cardboard nest that they make themselves from sugar and other substances.
How can I recognize black-gray ants?
Black-gray ants are usually coloredblack-brown and are 3 to 5 millimeters in size. This makes them larger than some other species of ants. This type of ant likes to settle in parks or gardens. The animals live in small mounds of earth, which they stabilize with materials brought from nature. You can also recognize the black-gray garden ant from this type of nest building, which often appears as a typical garden ant.
How do I recognize yellow meadow ants?
The yellow meadow ant has ayellowtoamber coloring and is between 2 and 4 millimeters long. The yellow meadow ant feeds largely on the honeydew of root lice. The ant enters into a targeted collaboration with these pests. If you see yellow or light brown ants in your lawn and brown spots appear on the lawn, it could be an infestation. However, these ants rarely venture into closed living spaces.
How do I recognize pharaoh ants?
Pharaoh ants are strikingly bright ants with a light yellow, almosttransparentbody and two conspicuoushumps between the upper body and abdomen. Pharaoh ants originally come from Asia, but are now also found in Europe. The dangerous ants are attracted to the smell of wounds and can transmit diseases. If you detect an infestation of pharaoh ants, it must be reported. Pharaoh ants are fought with feeding poison.
Tip
Ant watching is worth it
When observing ants, you can not only recognize their species, but also observe the diverse division of labor in the ant colony. This observation is a real joy, especially with children.