Content

• To step
• Part 1 of 2: Pay attention to the ant's appearance
• Part 2 of 2: Considering other factors
• Tips

If a house is overrun by ants, it means that a colony of ants has settled in or near your house. Ant colonies cannot survive without their queen, because the ant queen is the only one to produce new ants. To address the problem at the base, you will need to find the queen by looking for a large ant with wings (or wing stumps), a large thorax (chest piece) and a central location within the colony.

To step

Part 1 of 2: Pay attention to the ant's appearance

1. Look at the size of the ant. In many species the queen is much larger than the common workers. If you see an ant that is unusually large, there is a good chance it is the queen.
   • The ant will clearly be bigger than the other ants around it, or the other ants you've seen.
   • Also find out what type of ant you are dealing with. Especially with leafcutter ants, there is a good chance that the queen is larger than the workers. In the case of fire ants and giant ants, however, workers come in many sizes. This can make it somewhat difficult to distinguish the queen from the workers only by size.
2. See if the ant has wings. In many ant species, the queen is born with wings. When a queen reaches maturity, she will often have to fly to find new colonies for reproduction. There's a good chance a winged ant is the queen.
   • Some male ants also have wings but are usually less noticeable. Winged male ants are usually more slender and look more like a wasp than a queen, which will often be larger.
3. Look for clues that indicate the ant has shed its wings. At some point in their lives, queens actually shed their wings. If you look closely at the central part of the ant's body, you may see small bumps on either side. These are the attachment points for wings, indicating that the ant once had wings. Since queens shed their wings, the wing attachment points are a reliable indication that you have found the queen.
4. Examine the thorax. The thorax is the portion of an ant's body between the neck and abdomen. Ant queens will usually have a larger, more pronounced thorax than workers.
   • Since the queen's thorax was once winged, it will be more pronounced and muscular than the body of a worker.
   • A queen's thorax takes up more than half its body length. This is much larger than the thorax of an ordinary ant.

Part 2 of 2: Considering other factors

1. Think about where you found the ant. If you are not sure how to identify the queen based on appearance alone, consider where you found the ant. The queen is usually found in the center of the nest. Queens prefer a moist environment, which can usually be found in rotting wood. If you found an ant in a damp area indoors or outdoors, it is more likely to be a queen, especially if that area was in rotting wood.
2. Find out if you are dealing with draft ants. In most types of ant, the queen is the largest, with a more pronounced thorax, making her easily distinguishable from workers. However, draft ants are an exception to this rule. Puller ants have queens with a smaller thorax that are very similar to the other ants of this type. It can be difficult to single out the queen when dealing with this type of ant. Pull ants have a more oval shape than regular ants. They have antennae on their heads and a sickle-shaped lower jaw.
3. Get advice from a specialist. If you cannot find the queen you should consult a professional pest controller. Ants can become a real problem in your home. If you cannot find the queen herself and determine the type of ant, you should call a pest repeller.

Tips

• Watch out if you're going to do things with a queen. The ants will protect their queen at all times and can bite if they think she is threatened.