Pavement Ants Infestation

Identifying Pavement Ant Infestations

Most pavement ant activity is outside, along driveways and sidewalks, at the edge of slab foundations, and under heavy rocks, bricks and patio pavers. The clearest sign of a nest is a little mound of loose soil sitting on top of a crack in the concrete. Nests inside walls or floors are uncommon, but workers often come indoors to forage. To find how they get in, watch a few ants and follow them back to the gap they use.

Indoor Clues and What Brings Ants Inside

Pavement ants usually nest outdoors, so indoor signs tell you where they’re getting in. Look for:

• Trails of small dark ants coming up through cracks in a concrete slab, along expansion joints in garage and patio floors, or from under carpet edges and baseboards in ground-floor rooms.
• Ants gathered on spilled sugar, grease near the stove, crumbs under appliances, and in pet food bowls.
• Small winged ants near windows or doors, a sign of a mature colony close by.
• Fine sand or soil specks on floors near a crack, carried up from below.

The best places to inspect are ground-floor kitchens, laundry rooms and bathrooms, attached garages, and anywhere plumbing passes through the slab. Outside, lift landscape stones, pavers and edging along the foundation.

Food is the main draw, especially greasy and sweet scraps, but moisture matters too. Leaks under sinks and around water heaters, and soggy soil along the foundation after summer storms, make a home more attractive. Activity tends to pick up with warm weather and the rainy season, and in South Florida ants can stay active all year.

Because true pavement ants are uncommon in Florida, collect a few on clear tape for identification. If you see thin lines of loose soil running along baseboards or the edge of a slab, along with a mix of tiny workers and large-headed soldiers, you’re more likely dealing with big-headed ants, which call for a somewhat different approach. Our ants page covers other common Florida species.