How to Identify Queen Ants

Having too many ants in your home is a sign that a new ant colony has appeared in or around your home. To survive, every ant colony needs a queen, because the queen is the individual responsible for performing reproductive functions in the colony. To get to the root of the ant problem, you need to identify the queen based on her size, wings (or wing attachment points), large thorax, and position in the middle of the nest. .

Table of Contents

Consider the physical characteristics of ants

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Check the size. For many species of ants, the queen is usually much larger than the worker. If you come across an unusually large ant, it is most likely the queen. ^{[1] X Research Source}

The queen will be noticed by her larger appearance than the ants around her or other ants you have ever seen.
You also need to pay attention to what species the ants in your house belong to. If it is a leafcutter ant, the queen ant will usually be larger than the worker ant. ^{[2] X Research Source} However, if it is a fire ant and a carpenter ant, the worker ants will also vary in size. ^{[3] X Research Source} Therefore, if you just rely on size, it will be very difficult to distinguish between queens and workers.

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Check the ants. In many ant colonies, the queen is born with wings. As an adult, it will have to fly to another ant nest to conduct mating. A winged ant is most likely the queen ant. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Some male ants also have wings, but they are less noticeable. The winged male ants are generally slimmer and smaller than the queens, which are usually larger in size.

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Check for signs of wing drop. Queen ants will shed their wings at a certain point in their life cycle. If you bend down and look at the middle of the ant’s body, you can see small bumps protruding from the sides of the body. Those are wing mounts, an indication that wings once existed. Once the queen has lost her wings, these attachment points are a sign that you may have found it. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Check the ant’s thorax. Ant’s thorax is the body part connecting the head and abdomen. The queen ant will usually have a larger and more massive chest than the worker ant. ^{[6] X Research Sources}

Because the queen ant’s chest used to support the wings, it will be larger and more muscular than the worker ant’s chest.
The queen ant’s thorax accounts for more than half of its body size, which is much larger than that of normal ants.

Consider other factors

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Pay attention to the area where you found the ant. If you’re not sure how to identify a queen based on appearance alone, you need to look at where you found it. Queen ants are usually found in the middle of the nest. They prefer moist areas, such as rotting logs. If you find an ant hiding in a damp area in or around your home, especially in a damp log, it’s most likely the queen. ^{[7] X Research Sources}

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See if it’s a military ant. Most ants have a larger queen, with a larger thorax than others, and you can easily distinguish it from the worker ants. However, the army ant is an exception. The queen of the army ant has a smaller thorax and looks very similar to the rest of the colony. If you encounter this type of ant, it will be more difficult to identify the queen ant. ^{[8] X Research Sources} Army ants have a more prominent oval abdomen than other ants. They have antennae on their heads and their mouths have two jaws shaped like scissors. ^{[9] X Research Source}

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Consult experts. If you can’t find a queen, consult a professional pest control service. Ants can become a real problem in your home. If you can’t find the queen yourself, or can’t determine what species it is, visit the yellow page (page that provides a directory of businesses) to contact pest control providers. professional match.

Advice

You need to be careful when dealing with queen ants. The queen is always protected by the rest of the colony and will likely bite you if she feels threatened.

Steps

Consider the physical characteristics of ants

Consider other factors

Advice

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