What Are the Different Kinds of Ants?

There are several ways to differentiate between ants. One way is to list the different types of ants. You can also look at differences between ants as well. For example, one possible classification for the different types of ants is to say that some ants work and others reproduce.  Also, different ants eat different kinds of food and build different kinds of mounds.  Lastly, some vary by color and shape. 

One good way to understand what the different types of ants are is to look at the different subcategories:

• Amazon ants are really amazing. They actually invade other ants’ nests to capture and use them as workers.  The Amazon queen will go in and kill the queen, taking over for her.  The next generation of ants will go into other nests and steal pupae to bring back to their nest.  
• Carpenter ants are so called because they tunnel through wood.  They are omnivores and will eat many things from insects to tree sap.  These are the ones to look out for if you have moist wood in your home.  They do provide a valuable service in ecology as decomposers of wood.
• Citronella ants are yellowish in color and emit a lemony smell that is stronger when they are crushed.  They eat the sweet honeydew that aphids excrete and live underground.  They will not damage the structure of a home but would just be pests.     
• Field ants or Formica ants squirt formic acid into wounds they make for defense.  They also like the honeydew from aphids and will protect them from predators.  They sometimes join together and make enormous colonies which can have hundreds of millions of workers and these workers can travel over thousands of miles.
• Grease ants or thief ants like greasy things.  They often take larvae and food from other ants.  They will come into a home but will nest outdoors.  They are very tiny and hard to get rid of from your home. 
• Fire ants are called that because their bites are painful and feel like fire.  They defend their nests aggressively against anything they think may threaten them.  They build large mounds and feast on plants, seeds, and some insects. 
• Harvester ants live in prairies and deserts and eat seeds.  They store the seeds in their underground nests and if the seeds get wet, they will transport them outside to dry so they will not germinate.  They have a painful bite and the venom of the Pogonomyrmex Maricopa species has the most toxic venom of any insect.
• Leafcutter ants cut small pieces of leaves and take them to their nest.  They chew up the leaves and grow fungus on them to eat.  When a queen starts a new colony, she will bring some of the fungus with her as a starter.  These ants even use antibiotics to prevent the growth of fungi they don’t want.

Reproductive vs. Non-Reproductive Ants

Another answer to what the different types of ants are can be found by dividing ants into reproductive or non-reproductive. 

• Ants are social and live in large organized colonies. 
• There are ants that are in charge of reproduction.  That would be the queen and the males.  Sometimes there is more than one queen in a colony. 
• Worker ants, on the other hand, aren't reproductive. They do just what their name says: they work.  They hunt and bring back food for the colony and defend the nest.  

Food Eaten by Ants

When looking at what different kinds of ants there are, you can also divide them into groups by looking at their preferred food. 

• Some ants eat tree sap or dead insects. 
• Some prefer greasy foods, like meat and fats. 
• Others prefer seeds and parts of plants.

Size of Ants

Another way that ants are different is their size and color. 

• Their size ranges from 2 to 25 mm.
• Their colors can be brown, black, red, yellow, and shades in-between.    

Mounds by Ants

The different kinds of mounds they build can also help you classify what the different types of ants are. 

• A lot of ants build small mounds out of dirt while others will take small sticks to mix with the dirt that will help protect it from the rain. 
• The biggest mounds can be six feet wide and three feet high.
• Tunnels can be different as well. 
• Some ants dig straight down so they can hibernate, but most have many underground chambers that are connected with tunnels. 
• Army ants have no home; they travel in big groups foraging for food.

Learning about the various kinds of ants can help you determine what type of ant you are looking at and, if necessary, help you determine how to get rid of a specific type of ant.