- Characteristic features enable unequivocal identification
- Ants relocate with the flower pot trick - this is how it works
Anyone who regards red ants as pests in the garden fails to recognize their beneficial contribution to maintaining the ecological balance. Therefore, the gifted nest builders and ingenious survivors are under strict protection. However, you are not forced to share your garden with the crowd. We will be happy to explain to you how you can recognize the rare ant species and use a gentle method to convince them of an alternative place to live.
Red ants eat vermin!
Characteristic features enable unequivocal identification
The red ant does not bear its name by chance. Their body is mostly red in color. Only the head and legs have dark, black-brown spots. It differs from other wood ants in that it has significant hair growth on the chest and underside of the head. The workers are 4.5 to 9.0 millimeters in size. Queens and males reach a body length of up to 11 millimeters.
When red ants choose your garden as their residence, you immediately have a spotlessly clean green kingdom. The omnivores eat everything they can get their hands on, from scale insects and larvae to mice.
However, red wood ants are very unpopular due to two characteristics. The insects have powerful mouthparts with which they can deliver painful bites. In addition, their construction can assume monumental dimensions of up to 3 meters in height.
Ants relocate with the flower pot trick - this is how it works
If you have discovered red ants in the garden in good time thanks to their striking body color, you can easily relocate the colony in accordance with the Species Protection Act. How to do it:
- Pad several flower pots with wood wool
- Place the pots upside down at various points along the walkways
The wood ants cannot resist this tempting accommodation and move their nest into one of the pots. When the move is complete, push a spade under the pot and carry it to a place in the coniferous or mixed forest.
tips
Red ants avoid people. In contrast, the black garden ant (Lasius niger) has fewer scruples about building their nests under the pavement of terraces or garden paths and turning them into dangerous tripping hazards. By using special jointing sand when laying, such as Dansand Top Lock, you effectively prevent colonization by ants in advance.