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Velvety Ants
Velvety Tree Ants
- Size
- 2.5mm to 6mm long (1/10th of an inch to 1/4 of an inch)
- Color
- Brownish head, red thorax, velvety-black abdomen
- Locations
- California, Nevada, Colorado, Mexico
- Eating Preferences
- Stinger
- Nests
- Typically nest under bark and in cavities of trees
- Also found in tree stumps and under stones lying on the ground
- Rarely found in homes but will nest in insulated areas in wall voids when they do so
- Prefer areas along stream-banks
- Foraging
- Foraging trails can extend to over 100 feet
- Predators
- They have no predators. Quite the contrary in fact. Almost every other insect and animal will give them a wide berth.
- Organized in Battle
- One of the better organized types of ant when threatened.
- They communicate with a crackle type of sound and amass in great numbers around their prey.
- Their bite is accompanied by a nasty injection of venom.
- Regularly, bites come only once a reasonable number of Velvety Ants are ready to deliver bites in bulk.
- How to Kill
- We recommend calling-in a professional pest control service as baiting hasn't proved to be overly effective with these ants
- If you've tried that and failed your best results will come from mixing 1 gallon of Demon WP in a bucket for every 1 foot of nest diameter and literally pouring the solution on the ground-level nests - DO NOT SPRAY THE DEMON WP, YOU HAVE TO POUR IT
- Take geat care approaching Velvety Ant nests, they are among the most skilled of ants when it comes to defending their nest.
- Also trim any tree limbs that approach or touch buildings
- Treating your trees and shrubs with a systemic pesticide will remove the food source of future Velvety Tree Ant colonies
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