Thief Ant Facts
- Scientific name: Solenopsis Molesti
- Location: Native to North America and found throughout much of the eastern and central United States
- Color: Gold
- Size: 1/16 of an inch long
Thief Ant Behavior
Thief ants are like tiny, subterranean conmen that set up shop near other ants’ nests in order to pilfer the other ant colony’s food. Mighty but minuscule, these mobsters will stoop to stealing another ant colony’s eggs for tasty treats and will discreetly dispose of the carcasses of dead and dying ants when an ant colony goes south.
Thief ants love dead insects and help control lawn and golf course pests like cutworms and scarab beetles. In fact, thief ants with colonies of several thousand workers and multiple queens can outsmart and outmaneuver fire ants, overcoming and eating the larger ants. Fire ants can’t establish colonies in areas where thief ants live. Thief ants are sometimes mistaken for pharaoh ants because of their size, but thief ants exhibit different markings than pharaoh ants.
Thief ants are so tiny they may go unnoticed in your home, munching on greasy foods, such as potato chips and proteins. Showing a preference for proteins, like animal carcasses, these tiny interlopers are also drawn to sweets. Just one donut could be a thief ant colony’s magic kingdom.
Thief ants will eat just about anything and travel long distances in search of food. In warm weather, thief ants may enter your home through cracks in the foundation or small holes in wood, foraging in trails for food throughout your home.
Thief Ant Photos
Thief Ants with Larvae
Thief Ant on Leaf
