Banded Sugar Ants in Bellevue, WA

The life cycle of the ant consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Although there is some variation among species, a single queen typically establishes a new colony. After weeks of confinement underground, she lays between 5-60 eggs. After the eggs hatch, she feeds the larvae until they pupate. Several weeks later, the pupae transform into sterile female adult workers, and the first workers dig their way out of the nest to collect food for the colony.

The entire life cycle lasts from 6-10 weeks. Ant workers can survive up to seven years, queens can exist up to 15 years and males die soon after mating with females. As numbers increase, workers add new chambers and galleries to the nest. After a few years, the colony begins to produce winged male and female ants, which leave the nest to mate and form new colonies.

Sugar Ant Threats

Argentine ants, odorous house ants, pavement and pharaoh ants all prefer sweet, syrupy foods. Workers forage for food along paths, commonly coming into homes and buildings because of the availability of food and water sources. Ants rely on a scent left by their scouts to guide workers from their colony to specific food sources in your home. The trail is made of pheromones, natural chemicals the ants deposit along their route, like breadcrumbs.

These ants can infest any area of a structure, from crawlspaces, wall voids, kitchens and bathrooms to pantries and attics. Most sugar ants are more of a nuisance, however, argentine ants are an invasive species and have the ability to bite when threatened. Argentine ants are particularly aggressive toward other ant populations due to their sheer numbers, resulting in a serious threat to conservation efforts and native ant species.