The Spruce / Madelyn Goodnight

If you’re spotting ants in your home, you’re not alone.

But, black ants can make their way inside if a large sugar presence is available.

Fire Ants

Fire ants, as you could guess, are easily identified by their reddish-brown coloring.

The 9 Different Types of Ants

The Spruce / Madelyn Goodnight

There are several natural ways tocontrol a fire ant colony, if you find one around your property.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter antsnest in moist, decaying wood outdoors and in homes and buildings.

These ants usually have more than one nesting site, including parent and satellite colonies.

Clusters of small, black ants gather along the crack where maple-colored baseboards meet gray walls.

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Control is difficult because of the many nests that often make up a colony.

Therefore, even a direct-nest spray treatment may not contact all members of all interrelated colonies.

Like the pharaoh ant, ghost ants expand their colonies through budding.

Pavement Ant

Joseph Berger / Bugwood

The same control techniques used for pharaoh ants are most effective for ghost ants.

They’re able to quickly replace colonies, so it’s important that you work fast.

Field Ants

S.J.

fire ants

Small red fire ants are aggressive and can deliver a nasty bite.SweetCrisis/Shutterstock

They also nest in firewood and other such piles.

To control field ants:

Carpenter Ant

Richard Bartz / Munich Makro Freak

Odorous House Ant

Joseph Berger / Bugwood

Thief ants feeding on food on the floor

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A group of golden colored Pharaoh ants identified in part by the distinct brown coloring on their tail-end.

Pharaoh AntsSuman Ghosh/iStock/Getty Images Plus

A group of transparent brown ghost ants gathered around a small food source.

Victor Suarez Naranjo

Argentine ants feeding on food scraps.

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Field ant on top of mulch.

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