Pavement ants (sometimes called house ants) are common pests found throughout the U.S. that can invade your property year-round. While these small insects don’t cause structural damage to your home, they can become a significant nuisance when they establish colonies in or around your property. This guide provides effective and practical methods on how to get rid of pavement ants.
Quick Picks: How to Get Rid of Pavement Ants
Editor’s Choice
People’s Choice
What Are Pavement Ants?
Pavement ants earned their name from their habit of nesting in or under:
- Pavement slabs (driveways, sidewalks)
- Building foundations
- Stones or debris
- Lawns and garden areas
These tiny invaders build distinctive mounds of displaced soil near sources of moisture. Indoor nests are commonly found near heat sources, under flooring, inside insulation, within walls, and in masonry or woodwork.
While pavement ants have the ability to sting, they rarely do so unless disturbed. Their venom typically causes allergic reactions only in sensitive individuals.
Unlike some other ant species, pavement ants don’t cause structural damage to your home. Their primary impact is being a nuisance and contaminating food.
How to Identify Pavement Ants
Proper identification is crucial for effective treatment. Pavement ants have specific characteristics that distinguish them from other common household ant species:
Physical Appearance
- Size: Small, measuring 2.5-4mm in length
- Color: Dark brown to black bodies with lighter brown legs
- Distinct parallel lines or grooves on head and thorax
- Two nodes (segments) between thorax and abdomen
- Small spines on rear thorax
- Antennae with 12 segments ending in a three-segmented club
Nesting Habits
- Distinctive soil mounds near concrete edges
- Prefer to nest under stones, pavement, or along foundation walls
- Indoor nests often found near heat sources
- Multiple entrance holes in a small area
- Fine soil particles visible at nest openings
- Colonies typically contain 3,000-4,000 ants
Behavior Patterns
- Form clearly defined trails between nest and food sources
- Relatively slow-moving compared to other ant species
- Often seen in kitchens, bathrooms, and along baseboards
- Most active during night hours
- Swarmers (winged reproductive ants) emerge in spring/summer
- Will aggressively defend territory against other ant species
Common Confusion: Similar-Looking Ant Species
| Characteristic | Pavement Ants | Odorous House Ants | Carpenter Ants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Size | 2.5-4mm | 2.5-3.5mm | 6-12mm |
| Color | Dark brown to black | Brown to black | Black, red, or combination |
| Key Identifiers | Parallel grooves on head, two nodes between thorax and abdomen | Single node, emit rotten coconut smell when crushed | Large size, heart-shaped head, single node |
| Nesting Preference | Under pavement, stones, or foundation | Walls, near moisture, under objects | Damaged or moist wood |
| Damage Level | Low – food contamination only | Low – food contamination only | High – structural damage to wood |
Pro Identification Tip
If you’re unsure whether you’re dealing with pavement ants, place a small amount of honey or sugar water in the area of activity. Observe the ants that gather – pavement ants will form organized trails and gather in large numbers. Take a close-up photo and compare it to identification guides, or collect a few specimens in a clear container to examine their features more carefully.
Why Pavement Ants Invade Your Home
Understanding why pavement ants enter your home is key to effective prevention. The primary motivation is almost always food. These tiny invaders can gain access through the smallest cracks and crevices around:
- Doors and windows
- Gaps in the foundation
- Utility entry points
In winter, when outdoor food supplies are scarce, worker ants are sent to find new sources and replenish the colony’s resources. Pavement ants are particularly attracted to:
- Pet food
- Live and dead insects
- Sweet substances (earning them the nickname “sugar ants”)
- Almost anything that people eat
Once worker ants locate food, they return to the nest, leaving scent trails that guide other workers to the source. This efficient system allows the colony to collect large amounts of food quickly, making elimination challenging without targeting the source.
The colony structure explains why you see constant ant activity: worker ants must feed the queen and her young, who never leave the nest. The queen’s sole purpose is reproduction and colony growth, making her elimination essential for complete pest control.
How to Treat Pavement Ant Infestations
The key to successful pavement ant control is understanding that killing visible ants (the workers) won’t solve the problem. When workers are eliminated, the colony simply sends more to replace them. For complete elimination, you must target the queen and entire colony.
Here are effective treatment methods that target the colony instead of just individual ants:
Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth
Editor's ChoiceHow Does It Work
How to Use
- Locate outdoor ant nests, which appear as mounds of displaced soil near moisture sources, paved areas, rocks, or mulch
- Spread a 1/2-inch thick layer of diatomaceous earth directly onto nests and the surrounding ground
- Apply inside your home in areas of ant activity
- Reapply after rain or heavy moisture
- Be patient - elimination can take a few weeks as the product needs to reach the entire colony
- Natural and non-toxic to humans and pets (when food-grade)
- Long-lasting when kept dry
- Works on multiple insect pests simultaneously
- No chemical odors or residues
- Must be reapplied after getting wet
- Takes time to work (not an instant solution)
- Can be messy to apply
- May cause respiratory irritation if inhaled in large amounts
Borax and Sugar Bait Solution
People's ChoiceHow Does It Work
How to Use
- Mix equal parts (50/50) sugar and borax
- Add a small amount of water to create a syrup-like consistency
- Place the mixture in small containers near ant trails or entry points
- Remove other food sources to increase bait effectiveness
- Keep bait stations out of reach of children and pets
- Allow 1-2 weeks for full effectiveness as the poison must reach the queen
- Inexpensive and easy to make at home
- Highly effective at eliminating entire colonies
- Targets the source of the infestation
- Ants are attracted to the bait without needing to hunt them down
- Contains borax which can be harmful if ingested by children or pets
- Requires careful placement to avoid accidental exposure
- Takes time to eliminate the entire colony
- May require multiple applications for large infestations
Additional Effective Treatment Methods
Beyond the products featured above, these natural solutions can help eliminate pavement ant colonies:
- Boiling Water Treatment: For outdoor nests, pour one gallon of boiling water directly into ant mounds. Repeat daily until the ants are eliminated. This method is most effective for visible, accessible nests.
- Alternative Baiting Options:
- Corn meal: Pavement ants cannot properly digest corn meal, which will eventually kill them.
- Raw cream of wheat (farina): Once consumed, this product expands in ants’ stomachs, proving fatal.
Though borax is natural, take precautions when handling it. It is harmful when inhaled or ingested, and unprotected contact can lead to allergic reactions. Keep all baits and treatment products out of reach of children and pets.
It is strongly recommended not to use residual sprays or dusts, as they can cause ant colonies to split into sub-colonies. This scattering effect can multiply the number of colonies and worsen the infestation.
How to Prevent Pavement Ant Infestations
After eliminating existing colonies, implement these preventive measures to keep pavement ants from returning:
Natural Repellents
- Create Barrier Lines: Form unbroken lines of cinnamon, citrus oil, powdered chalk, flour, talcum powder, turmeric, black/cayenne pepper, powdered charcoal, lavender oil, or salt around entry points. These natural substances repel ants and prevent crossing.
- Whole Cloves and Bay Leaves: Place these around your home as their odor is unappealing to ants.
- Coffee Grounds: Spread used coffee grounds along house foundations and ant hills. The caffeine disrupts their scent trails, causing colony disorientation.
Home Maintenance
- Seal Entry Points: Inspect your home for cracks and gaps, particularly in the foundation and around window and door frames. Seal openings with silicone caulk, glue, putty, or plaster.
- Repair Leaks: Fix leaky faucets and pipes to eliminate moisture sources that attract ants.
Sanitation Practices
- Regular Cleaning: Maintain cleanliness throughout your home, particularly in the kitchen and dining areas.
- Trail Elimination: Wash areas where ants have been spotted with bleach or Lysol to destroy their scent trails.
- Food Management: Keep all food (including pet food) in sealed containers and promptly clean up spills and crumbs.
- Surface Treatment: Wipe down countertops with vinegar to create a repellent barrier.
- Waste Management: Take out trash regularly and ensure garbage cans have tight-fitting lids.
Conclusion: Taking Control of Pavement Ant Problems
Eliminating pavement ants is entirely achievable with the right approach. By focusing on colony elimination rather than just killing visible workers, you can successfully rid your home of these persistent pests. Remember that the key is targeting the queen, which requires patience and strategic methods like baiting. Using bait allows the worker ants to carry poison back to the colony, ultimately reaching the queen and stopping reproduction. Additionally, sealing entry points and maintaining cleanliness will prevent future infestations. If you’re wondering how to get rid of ant hills, consider pouring boiling water over them or using insecticidal treatments to destroy the colony at its source.
Preventing future infestations requires a combination of sealing entry points, maintaining proper sanitation, and utilizing natural repellents. These eco-friendly methods not only keep ants at bay but also avoid introducing harmful chemicals into your living environment.
Don’t tolerate sharing your home with these tiny invaders. With consistent application of the techniques outlined in this guide, you can ensure your living space remains pavement ant-free for the long term.
Frequently Asked Questions About Pavement Ants
How do I know if I have pavement ants?
Pavement ants are small (2.5-4mm long), dark brown to black with pale legs, and have parallel grooves on their head and thorax. Look for small mounds of soil near sidewalks, driveways, or your foundation. Inside, they typically trail along baseboards, under appliances, or near food sources. Unlike carpenter ants, they’re smaller and don’t cause structural damage.
Are pavement ants dangerous?
Pavement ants are not considered dangerous. While they can bite if disturbed and do possess a stinger, they rarely use it. Their venom typically only causes mild irritation except in those with specific allergies. The primary concerns with pavement ants are food contamination and the nuisance of their presence.
How long does it take to get rid of pavement ants?
Complete elimination typically takes 1-3 weeks when using baits or natural methods that target the colony. Surface sprays provide immediate results for visible ants but won’t eliminate the colony. For severe infestations with multiple colonies, complete control may take up to a month as the treatments need time to reach the queens.
Why do I keep getting pavement ants even after treatment?
Recurring infestations usually happen because: 1) The queen wasn’t eliminated in the initial treatment, 2) Multiple colonies exist on your property, 3) New colonies have moved in from neighboring areas, or 4) Food and water sources remain accessible. Successful long-term control requires combining elimination methods with preventative measures like sealing entry points and removing attractants.
What’s the difference between pavement ants and carpenter ants?
Pavement ants are much smaller (2.5-4mm) than carpenter ants (6-12mm) and don’t cause structural damage. Carpenter ants are typically black or red/black, have a single node between their thorax and abdomen, and excavate wood to build nests. Pavement ants prefer to nest in soil, under stones, or in pavement cracks, and have two nodes between their thorax and abdomen.
Do pavement ants come inside during certain seasons?
Yes, pavement ant invasions often follow seasonal patterns. They’re most likely to enter homes during late fall and winter seeking warmth and food when outdoor resources become scarce. During spring and summer, they may enter after heavy rains that flood their outdoor nests. However, with established indoor colonies, they can be present year-round.
Will killing the ants I see solve the problem?
No, killing visible worker ants provides only temporary relief. Worker ants make up just a small percentage of the colony, and the queen will quickly produce more to replace them. Effective control requires eliminating the queen(s) through baits or other methods that workers carry back to the nest.
Can I use vinegar to get rid of pavement ants?
Vinegar is effective as a temporary repellent and for erasing ant trails but will not eliminate a colony. A solution of equal parts white vinegar and water sprayed along entry points and trails disrupts their chemical communication. However, for complete elimination, you’ll need methods that reach the queen, such as baits or diatomaceous earth.
I have ants in my car and truck from parking on my driveway. We are going crazy from the little pests.
kay, last spring and summer I had ants in the kitchen, tried everything ant bait, natural, store bought stuff etc. nothing worked. the mortar was falling out of my stone foundation and finally saw a little bit of sand at certain spots on the concrete. I made a mistake and sprayed the holes I thought the ants were behind the concrete, some ants died but didn’t get the queen, a little later having the same ant problem in the kitchen as they were still multiplying behind the concrete and probably nesting in the crawl space that I can’t get to. eventually I removed the disintergrating sand from the holes and sprayed boiling hot water in the holes back to the joinces, on both holes 2 days later literally thousand of ants were dead in clumps outside on the stone foundation, I was really proud of myself no more kitchen ants! thought I may have got the queen, HUH NO SUCH LUCK, april 2017 starting queen was still alive over the winter??? starting early same problem, I know I need foundation work, very expensive, everyday same routine, i’ll give it another 10 days, and I guess I’ll have to call pest mgt. they are just indestructible, smart too some won’t even take the bait!! can’t believe it!
I had pavers set around my pool. When they were laid sand was placed lnbetween the pavers. Within three weeks, all the sand had been replaced with dirt and then they moved in. Because of the dirt I now have the problem of weeds growing in the dirt. When the polis covered in the fall and winter, they build mounds around the pool coping. Nothing seems to help and I am afraid they are living between the pool liner. If I hose the dirt out of the pavers, in two days it is back. Help!
I have tried borax, vinegar, boiling water, etc., with varying degrees of success. Boiling water is best if you can find the actual ant hole, but that is not always possible. I have had good luck lately with filling the cracks where they enter the house with baby powder. They hate the stuff.
We have tried everything! And it seems to be getting worse! I hate these little black ants!
Go to Walmart and get ant traps called “Terro”. I’m going to warn you. It’s going to make you absolutely wild to watch them making their path to it and watching them going back and forth. But just let it go. They are taking it back to the colony and then they’ll all die. My husband kept telling me that and my anxiety was going through the roof. But it worked took a whole day of watching, into the night of these little jerks swarming the bait. But I haven’t seen one since. I’m still on high alert waiting for them to come back. Keep away from children and pets. Do not get it on you. Once they are gone. Clean up the area with some bleach and spray citrus where they were coming in. DONE!
I bought a box of these. The ants were not interested. I even went as far as to pour the liquid out around the nests. They ignored it.
Not so smart
It’s simple….sign a contract leaving your house to the ants…as they’ll soon have it anyway! (Saves you a lot of frustration and time trying to get rid of them.)
I have put costic soda all along the run nd watched them suffer like they made me suffer.
Set the housse on fire kill the little bugger
HELP I have a stone patio and when it is hot I open the patio ( BACK DOOR) and by the time I close the door I have loads of ants in my house???????!!!!
I found the source of these ants and poured boiling water into it for some days. After that I patched up the hole using cement. I still have ants coming up in the same place.
Help. Three month ago I had small blank ants coming there my kitchen door but I used lemon flash with boiling hot water and it work got rid off them . Urgent help they back again also ants with wings on also here to many off them how can I get rid off them ? Help ?
If they have wings they can either be ants or termites. Look around the foundation for mud tubes and if you find any of these this is the usual way termites gain access to the wooden parts of a house. Get a professional exterminating company to deal with this before the termites can establish themselves and really do damage in your house.
If you are getting a lot of flying ants that you have tried to deal with on your own probably best to hire professional exterminators rather than ending up with more and more of them while you try to figure out what to do.
Good luck
We moved in this home that had a red brick patio in the backyard, it needed to be removed because when it would rain, the water would go underneath to the crawl space. We started to take the porch apart and underneath the bricks was sand, and lots of it. We also unveiled redish looking ants that were never seen until we went underneath the bricks. Thousand and thousands of these ants had made their own roads all through the sand. We sprayed the hell out of the sand as we were removing it. Eventually we got to the dirt and even land. That was last summer. This summer i had lifted up a few of the bricks i had laid down for a walkway for the dogs and us. Wholly crap if there wasn’t thousand of these redish fat ants with eggs to boot. You don’t notice them unless you remove the bricks. They make their homes underneath and no mounds. What are they and how deep do they go? I used granules and spray. Also have sprayed all around the exterior and used granules. We don’t get them in the house. We have had a few of the big black ants in the house but nothing that a little spray didnt cure. How do i get rid of these redish ants, they are a little bigger than the tiny brown ants. I’m needing to put more dirt down to even it out better and wanting to build a different type of back porch, like off of the ground. But these pests won’t go away. Also what do they feed on? Thank you for any info.
I had neighbors who lived in the third (top) floor of our condo association. They had those tiny red ants all over the house and asked us if we had them on the first floor. We didn’t and we had two dogs but never left food out in their bowls so no one could figure out where the ants were coming in.
Finally the neighbors had an exterminator come in to track down the point of entry. It turned out that there was a large tree with a branch that was touching the corner of the house near the third floor and the tree had those ants running around on it. The exterminator figured the ants had found their way to a food source in the third floor condo and that source turned out to be a huge surprise. The building had been rehabbed a few years before. The exterminator tracked some of the ant trails to an outside wall and the neighbor decided to open the wall to see what could be there that was attracting them. He found a bunch of trash had been enclosed in the wall (probably by the contractors who were too lazy to take the trash outside) that included candy wrappers, lollipop sticks with candy sticking to them and soda cans!!!
The wall was cleaned out and the tree branch was pruned back and no more ants.
We use bugright it is all natural and safe.
Use a spray bottle for your pests, that’s grandmas cure
I use soapy water for a lot of bugs like eldertree bugs, termites sometimes,I use vinigarwater too…
we have ants in the cracks of our driveway. i have used and spray in the mounds. there is little change to there life. what else can we do to get rid of them
what can i do to get rid of the ants in the drive way. i have used spray that with a straw , i put it directly in the nests with minimal success. HELP
We have ants that are underneath the porch which is concrete and they are eating away at it.Everyday there is a new pole of concrete dust,we have tried about everything .Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Thank -you
Karbodust is wonderful for inside the house. Available at any retail store. Non toxic. Wish I can get the buggers of my grass. Georginia Roodepoort.
Actually the stuff is HIGHLY toxic and is used as rat poison. AVOID EXCEPT IN EXTREME RODENT PROBLEMS!
I have ants that come in door.Are there something nom toxic that i could put in doorway?
Salt
cinammon or salt
We found that bugright worked the best and it is all natural and safe around children and pets.
Where would I find this bugright stuff! I have a two year old and a dog and cat and he tried all natural remedies and I have definitely cut down the numbers in my tiny one bedroom home!!! By have not stopped them…. I need to have something safe around my son and my four legged fur babies
I have a paving stone patio. Under the part that gets the most sun, ants have made their homes with the result that the paving stones have sunk. I am about to dig them up. I will put down limestone instead of sand and I plan to put a layer of garden cloth over the base before I put the stones pack. I hope this will work! I’ll let you know.
Dave
The interlocking papers has 1/8 to 3/8 inch between them. I have found the use of jute used by gardener’s forced with a paint scraper stops there passage to the surface. I tried polymetric sand (super-sand) only created tunnels when the air bubbles surfaced between the cracks when water was applied the adhesive. It’s a lot of work, but very rewarding. I tried everything and this works.
I live in florida and have a large screened in pool with a brick paver patio surrounding it. After every rain I have thousands of winged ants floating in my pool.
Any suggestions for a plan of attack …………..help !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!