Ants (must be spring)

[DaveC426913]

TL;DR Summary

Why would ants (carpenter) gather in such an unusual place?

My wife just lifted a stack of dinner plates in a cupboard and found about a thousand carpenter ants in a 3" ball. The plates were on a dishtowel that served as a cupboard liner and the ants were under the dishtowel.

There was zero detritus, zero rot, zero poop, zero sawdust, no eggs, no nothing else. Once I'd swept all the ants into the sink, it was as if there had never been anything there. The cupboard is old hardwood, though it showed no signs of damage in the immediate area.

I tried to spot a queen but had no luck before they went down the drain.

I am used to carpenter ants invading the kitchen in the spring time, always spotting several a day, but they always seemed to be coming from somewhere deep in the walls. This was right out in a cupboard we use several times a day. (Indeed, we have been killing a couple of ants a day on the counter just recently, so I know they're been there at least a week.)

I'm flabbergasted to find a ball of ants virtually "out in the open" like this, and not in tucked away in a nest. I guess this is how they migrate to make a new colony?

 

[pinball1970]

Summary:: Why would ants (carpenter) gather in such an unusual place?

My wife just lifted a stack of dinner plates in a cupboard and found about a thousand carpenter ants in a 3" ball. The plates were on a dishtowel that served as a cupboard liner and the ants were under the dishtowel.

There was zero detritus, zero rot, zero poop, zero sawdust, no eggs, no nothing else. Once I'd swept all the ants into the sink, it was as if there had never been anything there. The cupboard is old hardwood, though it showed no signs of damage in the immediate area.

I tried to spot a queen but had no luck before they went down the drain.

I am used to carpenter ants invading the kitchen in the spring time, always spotting several a day, but they always seemed to be coming from somewhere deep in the walls. This was right out in a cupboard we use several times a day. (Indeed, we have been killing a couple of ants a day on the counter just recently, so I know they're been there at least a week.)

I'm flabbergasted to find a ball of ants virtually "out in the open" like this, and not in tucked away in a nest. I guess this is how they migrate to make a new colony?

Destroy them Dave and save the planet. Boiling hot water with some caustic thrown in.

 

[DaveC426913]

Destroy them Dave and save the planet. Boiling hot water with some caustic thrown in.

Well, I was able to sweep 95% of them into a water-filled bowl in the sink, so destroying them isn't an issue.
I sprayed the cupboard with Ant B-Gone but, unless I killed the queen, they'll just take up residence elsewhere.

And there's got to have been a queen in there. I checked the rest of the cupboards and did not find a single ant under or in any other dish. They were definitely attracted to that spot.

 

[pinball1970]

Well, I was able to sweep 95% of them into a water-filled bowl in the sink, so destroying them isn't an issue.
I sprayed the cupboard with Ant B-Gone but, unless I killed the queen, they'll just take up residence elsewhere.

And there's got to have been a queen in there. I checked the rest of the cupboards and did not find a single ant under or in any other dish. They were definitely attracted to that spot.

They are chemotactic so there may have been a remnant? Or something?

One of those species with more than 4 legs I detest.

 

[DaveC426913]

They are chemotactic so there may have been a remnant? Or something?

Well, that's what's unusual. Those plates have been in that cupboard for years. We use and replace plates there every single day. The dishtowel (which is clean) has been there for a year or so.

I wonder if what's happening is that they're being drawn to some of the things we are now leaving out on the counter - such as a small jar of honey - and this hidey-hole is the closest place they feel safe.

Although, in the last week of killing individuals on the countertop, I did not find a single ant on the jar of honey...

 

[BillTre]

Destroy them Dave and save the planet. Boiling hot water with some caustic thrown in.

An alcohol solution or water with a bit of detergent should suffice.
The ant's exoskeleton is water repellent. Alcohol or detergent overcome the water repellency, so they wet well. This allows water to get into they spiracles (openings of their breathing system) and will drown them. The spiracles connect to the trachea which ramify all over the insect bodies and provide air exchange (O₂ in, CO₂ out).
If you just throw them into water, they will often have a bubble of air adhering to them and will be able to breath for a while like a SCUBA diver.

Spiracles are often found in corresponding places in each body segment (which is basically a repeated unit of body plan.
The segment layouts vary in the different body regions (head, thorax, abdomen).
Head segments are highly modified.

WRT the ants:
Maybe those kind of ants don't have such a distinctive queen.
They like warm isolated areas. I have a nest of small ants in a clock radio once.

We would probably have a reduced environmental quality without any ants. They clean things up and form a surprisingly large portion of the biomass (15–20% of the terrestrial animal biomass).

 

[DaveC426913]

Maybe those kind of ants don't have such a distinctive queen.

Indeed. Their queen is just like a bigger version of a worker.
There was a wide range of ants from small to common carpenter-sized (which are quite large). One of them was surely the queen but not IDable without scrutiny.

They like warm isolated areas. I have a nest of small ants in a clock radio once.

You know what? That's the ticket. There is a set of row lights and a power converter on the underside of the cupboard that gets fairly warm.

And, now that I think if it, they couldn't get under any of the other stacks of dishes because they don't have a dish towel liner.

Mystery solved.

 

[BillTre]

You can remove any of the pheromones they lay down as trails for other ants to follow by wiping with a towel wet with detergent and water.
Its also a good way to get rid of any running around.

I also dump a couple of gallons of detergent water on yellow jacket nests in the ground that I find.