Acrobat Ants Infestation

Acrobat Ant Infestations

Indoors, acrobat ants look for ready-made spaces. They settle into wall voids, behind baseboards, and inside door and window frames, especially where wood has stayed wet or where other insects have already hollowed it out. Foam board insulation behind siding is another favorite, since it is soft, easy to tunnel through and often damp. Colonies living in walls sometimes chew the coating off electrical, phone or cable wires, which can lead to shorts.

How to Identify Acrobat Ant Infestations

The first thing most people notice is a line of ants moving steadily between a nest and a food source. The second is debris. As workers clean out and expand a nest, they push fine wood shavings, bits of insulation, soil and insect parts out of small openings, and the material piles up below. Homeowners sometimes find these piles and assume a wood-destroying insect is at work, but acrobat ants do not eat wood. They widen tunnels that rot or other insects started, including old carpenter ant galleries.

Outside, look in stumps, fallen logs, woodpiles and other wood softened by decay or fungus. Workers that make it indoors go after sweet foods and protein such as meat scraps and grease.

Where to Check Around a Florida Home

Acrobat ants travel along edges and lines, so their routes are often easy to trace once you know where to look. Good places to start:

• Tree limbs and palm fronds touching the roof or walls
• Utility and cable lines running from poles or trees to the house
• Window and door frames, especially ones with water stains or soft, peeling paint
• Soffits, fascia boards and roof edges below gutters that overflow
• Siding seams and the spots where pipes, wires and AC lines pass through the wall

Outdoors, check shrubs and small trees for aphids, scale insects or mealybugs. Acrobat ants tend these insects for their sweet honeydew, and a steady column of ants running up a trunk is a strong hint that a colony is nearby. They also nest in dead branches, hollow stems and under loose bark.

A quick way to confirm the species: nudge a worker with a twig. Acrobat ants often flip the abdomen up over the body when bothered. That raised posture is the most reliable field sign.

Why they come inside: Moisture is the main draw. Roof leaks, wet wall cavities and rotting trim give a colony a ready-made home. In Florida, activity runs highest in the warm, wet months, and in South Florida workers may forage through much of the year. For removal steps, see how to get rid of acrobat ants.