In Illinois, there are four primary types of ants that tend to make their ways into homes and infest our pantries and walls. These four ants are:

Argentine Ants

These ants are not native to the United States, but they are extremely adaptable and can live almost anywhere indoors or outdoors. Their colonies consist of several thousand members and they are extremely proficient reproducers. Argentine ants are also one of the most common pest problems in all of Illinois.

Carpenter Ants

These ants aren’t typically aiming for your pantry, but rather for your home as a whole. Carpenter ants are wood boring insects, similar to termites, that drill through wooden structures to make their nest. Unlike other wood boring insects, carpenter ants do not actually consume the wood, however, this doesn’t mean that the damage is any less severe when they’ve found their way into your walls.

Odorous Ants

True to their names, odorous ants emit a poignant smell. The scent is often described as a strong rotten coconut-like odor and is released when an ant is crushed. Thankfully, odorous ants are not physically dangerous (they do not bite nor sting), nor do they cause structural damage by boring through wood, but they can be extremely annoying and stinky!

Pavement Ants

Pavement ants are also very representative of their names as they tend to construct their nests under floors, cracks, and even sidewalks. Like most ants, they are avid foragers that will invade homes in search of any food sources they can find.