Thief Ant

The thief ant is named for the way it robs the nests of other ants for food, sometimes making home there. Thief ants are some of the smallest ants you will find, making them hard to identify. They range in color from yellow to brown, and nest both indoors and out. Indoors you can find them nesting in voids and trailing to food sources, while outside they live mostly in the ground or in rotten wood. They eat a wide variety of foods including dead animals, and can be an intermediate host for poultry tapeworm. Baits may not always be effective with these ants because of the limited quantities they ingest.