Pest Library

Characteristics

Citronella ants are large yellow ants that are 1/4 inch in length, and can easily be identified by their yellow-orange color. The shape of their thorax is uneven, their eyes are small, they have a 1 node, and their abdomen have circles of hairs at the tip. When threatened or crushed, these ants can emit a strong lemon scent smell that gave them the name of citronella ant.

Habitat

This large yellow ant prefers to stay outdoors where decaying or dead woods are found. Places where they may create nests include under logs, rocks, dead tree limbs, tree cavities, concrete slabs, gardens, porches, lawns, etc.

When they stay indoors, they will search for a place where the moisture is high. Places where they can be found indoors are in crawl spaces, underneath slab floors, or in soil under mulch adjacent to a building foundation.

Behavior

These ants are commonly seen outdoors as they feed on honeydew made by aphids and mealybugs. They are subterranean in nature and workers are not commonly seen. Instead, during the spring the new queens and males may be seen as they attempt to get inside a home. Alates or femaleand male reproductives will swarm that can last several days and they may even be confused with the swarming termites.

Food

They prefer the sweet honeydew made by aphids and homopteran insects.

Life Cycle

These ants are not commonly seen, but when they come out during the spring or even during the winter months, their main goal is to mate and search for a new place to create a colony. An exodus of alates can bring alarm to homeowners as they search their way inside a home. After mating, the female reproductive will search for a favorable nesting site inside a rotten log or timber, and the likes, and she will lay her eggs to become her first set of workers. Worker ants will stay outdoors as they only forage honeydew from dandelion roots.

Other Information and Tips

Citronella ants are not considered pests since they mostly nest outdoors. However, when large, swarming occurs, the queen ant may successfully create a nesting site. Places where thesenest are, are in floor drain tiles, beneath slab foundations, and in soil-floor crawlspaces, which may begin the emergence of worker ants.

Searching for a colony in a home or on its premises may be difficult because they are usually located underground. An effective way to lessen their emergence and to possibly eliminate them is through sealing cracks and crevices. Providing baits to these ants may also not be as effective as how it is effective to other ant species because the workers do not prefer the sweet delicacies of your kitchen. Any treatment that includes getting rid of these ants will include treatment beneath the slabs and drilling suspected areas , which will mostly require the help of an ant control specialist.

Photo by Matt Reinbold, used under CC BY 2.0 / resized from original