DESCRIPTION
Small, light ginger-brown coloured ants, with shiny dark brown abdomens.
-
The presence of two very different-sized ‘castes’ (types determined by their function) of worker ants, that is:
-
Smaller ‘minors’ — 2 to 3mm long.
-
A larger ‘major’ caste — 3.5 to 4.5mm long, which has a very obvious, much larger head and which makes up about 1% of the population. The ‘major’ caste of worker ants are not primarily soldiers for defence. Instead, their powerful jaws are used for cutting up large pieces of food into small pieces which can more easily be transported back to the nest by the more numerous minors.
-
-
Ants with no obvious odour when crushed.
Also called Big-Head Ants. They are very successful invasive species and is considered a danger to native ants in Australia and other places
SYMPTOMS
Infestations of big-headed ants are characterized by lines of inter-connected holes and small mounds of excavated soil.
Excavations can be so extensive that brick paving is destabilised and the roots of plants and the lawn can become so aerated that the plants subsequently die by drying out.
Often the small worker ants are hard to see, but food put out for pets can become covered in ants.
Look for two distinctly different-sized ants on a food source, with the larger worker ants having a disproportionately larger head.
threats
The coastal brown ant does not sting or cause any structural damage, and usually does not bite unless the nest is disturbed, and even then, the bite is not painful. This ant is sometimes confused with subterranean termites because it may create debris-covered foraging tubes that are somewhat similar, albeit much more fragile, than termite tubes. More often these ants leave piles of loose sandy soil. Homeowners are often annoyed by these ‘dirt piles’ and by ants foraging in bathrooms, kitchens, around doors, and windows, as well as on exterior paved or brick walkways or driveways. Their attraction to food also causes annoyance within populated areas.
Loose soil thrown up around the nest entrances of the Coastal Brown Ant.