Rover Ants

Rover Ant Facts

• Color: Workers range from dark brown to a pale yellowish blond, depending on the species
• Size: Tiny, with workers roughly 1/16 inch long

Rover Ant Behavior

Most rover ant colonies live outside in soil, mulch and leaf litter. Workers find their way indoors through hairline cracks, gaps around doors and windows, and branches that touch the roof or walls. In the yard, you may spot them racing up and down grass blades, fence posts and lawn chairs, especially when winged ants are leaving the nest.

How to Recognize a Rover Ant

The rover ant most Floridians meet is the dark rover ant, a South American species that has spread across Florida and much of the Southeast. Workers are among the smallest ants found in homes, so a magnifying glass helps.

• Antennae: nine segments with no distinct club at the tip. Most other small household ants have 11 or 12.
• Waist: a single small node that’s partly hidden under the abdomen when viewed from above.
• Abdomen tip: a tiny ring of hairs, typical of ants that spray formic acid instead of stinging.
• Color: evenly dark brown in the dark rover ant, though some other rover ant species are pale yellow.

Common look-alikes:

• Ghost ants: dark head and thorax with a pale, almost see-through abdomen and legs.
• White-footed ants: black with pale yellowish-white feet, and a bit larger.
• Pharaoh ants: yellowish to light brown, with a two-segment waist.

What they eat: mostly honeydew from aphids, scales and mealybugs, plus nectar, sweet spills and small dead insects.

In Florida: rover ants are common statewide in lawns, mulch, potted plants and around homes, and they forage most of the year. For the harmless-versus-stinging question, see rover ant bites, and for other species, the ants page.