Harvester Ants Infestation

Identifying Harvester Ant Infestations

Harvester ants are, by no means, subtle creatures. Dedicated to work and grass seed, harvester worker ants strip large sections of vegetation from the land around their nests. Easy to spot in naturally grassy areas, due to the mounds constructed above their nests, harvester ants can also clear areas as large as 23 feet in diameter. Additionally, the pests cover the nest entrance with an elaborate mound, which makes an infestation even easier to detect.

Threats of Harvester Ant Infestations

While harvester ant infestations may be easy to find, they can also cause your lawn to look terrible, with whole areas of vegetation stripped away and mounds of soil rising from your otherwise carefully sculpted landscape.

Reading the Signs of a Harvester Ant Nest

Florida harvester ant nests follow a recognizable pattern. The cleared area around a Florida nest is usually modest, often a flat or slightly raised disc of sand a foot or two across, rather than the very large clearings made by some western species.

What to look for:

• One open entrance hole near the center of the disc
• Small pieces of charcoal or pebbles scattered over the disc
• Little piles of empty seed husks and chaff dumped toward the edge
• Large reddish workers walking out along paths and returning with seeds in their jaws

Where nests appear: sunny, sandy, well-drained ground with sparse plant cover, such as thin lawns, bare patches, sandy driveways and paths, playgrounds, pastures and roadsides. Shaded spots and thick turf are much less inviting. These ants nest in the soil and do not move into houses.

What draws them: deep sand, open sun and a supply of grass and weed seeds nearby.

Timing: activity is easiest to see on warm, sunny days from spring into fall. Winged males and queens leave established nests for mating flights during the warm months, and new colonies start out small, so a young nest may show little more than a hole and a few workers. Many nests are first noticed when a pet, child or mower disturbs one. The how to get rid of harvester ants page covers safe next steps.