Ants - Ant Facts

Ants, members of the Formicidae family, form colonies that range from a few dozen to many thousands of members.  These social insects perform ecological roles including aeration of soil when located outdoors. When they enter a structure in search of food, however, they can become persistent nuisances and damage building material. When foraging, ants leave a pheromone trail as they move along so fellow ants can find the food and expel other substances as they move along.  An ant can lift up to 20 times its body weight.  Queen ants, the colony leaders, can live many years and produce millions of off-spring, making it important that colonies are exterminated as soon as they are detected.