Do you think it’s only you who love the Florida weather? Think again!
Pests, from termites to bed bugs, love Florida weather. And ants are no exception.
Florida receives sunshine most of the time in the year. Add a bit of humidity, and it makes a perfect dwelling place for pests.
Many Florida homes come across tiny red ants.
If you’re a Florida resident, you’re no stranger to the sightings of small red ants in your home and yard.
So, what are these tiny red ants that infest Florida homes? And how do they get inside your home?
In this guide, you’ll get answers to these questions. Plus, to a lot more.
Keep reading to find it out.
Types Of Tiny Red Ants In Florida
There are three types of tiny red, or reddish, ants that are common in Florida.
Fire ants are the most common out of the three, followed by pharaoh ants and crazy ants.
You’ll come across fire ants in your yard or garden.
These ants are red, and they make tiny mud hills on grass lawns or moist soil beds.
Fire ants are not native to the US and they’re also known as red imported fire ants.
Fire ants are indiscriminate stingers, and they can sting multiple times at a go.
Fire ants stings are painful, and if it stings you, you’ll have an itchy red lump on your skin.
In contrast, pharaoh ants prefer to be inside your home. Pharaoh ants are yellowish red, and they’re a bit bigger than fire ants.
You can quickly identify them by their reddish bottom, preceded by a yellowish red upper body.
Pharaoh ants infest homes and commercial buildings.
Pharaoh ants make multiple nests inside the structure that they infest.
There are multiple satellite nests connected with one central nest where the queen pharaoh ant resides.
Given the widespread network of infestation, it’s hard to get rid of pharaoh ants with DIY methods.
You’d need a professional pest controller to get rid of pharaoh ants from your home.
Pharaoh ants can sting you, but they’re not indiscriminate stingers like fire ants.
They can sting you and your pet if they feel threatened by you or by your pet.
Also, pharaoh ants don’t sting multiple times like the fire ants.
But pharaoh ants carry dangerous pathogens like Salmonella and Streptococcus.
These pathogens can make you sick if the pharaoh ants come in contact with your food
And finally, crazy ants.
Crazy ants are reddish-brown or black, and they’re the smallest of the three tiny red ants in Florida.
They got their name as crazy ants because they move in an erratic fashion and at a brisk pace.
Crazy ants don’t bring a infestation threat to your home or yard that can cost you dear.
But they’ve got an uncanny behavior of nesting in electronic products like laptops and inside electrical outlets.
Experts say that the warmth from electronic products attracts crazy ants.
And given the tight spaces in electronic products, crazy ants love to nest inside them.
There’s also an ant known as red velvet ant or cow killer that you’d find in South Florida.
These ants are bigger than the three ants, and they prefer to live outdoors in trees.
Red velvet ants are uncommon in homes in urban settings.
But if you live close to the woods, then expect to encounter these ants in your home.
Are Tiny Red Ants Dangerous To You?
No, they’re not. Although the bite can be painful, especially from the fire ants, they don’t carry much venom to kill you or put you under pain for days.
Their sting, especially from fire ants, is painful, irritating, and causes a burning sensation.
Among the three tiny red ants, only the crazy ants don’t bite humans and pets.
Tiny red ants are mostly nuisance pests. They don’t pose any damaging property threat to your home.
But that doesn’t mean you should let the infestation grow and expose yourself to their painful stings.
As you know, pharaoh ants carry pathogens that can make you sick if they come in contact with your food.
It’d be best if you hire a pest controller to get rid of ant infestation, of any type, in your home.
What Attracts Tiny Red Ants Get Inside Your Home?
Tiny red ants sneak inside your home in search of food and shelter.
Fire ants sneak in when the temperature outside becomes hot or if it rains.
In contrast, pharaoh ants are home dwellers, and they’re much more likely to get inside your home than remain outside.
For the ants, the most sought-after place inside your home is your kitchen and pantry.
It’s because there’s enough moisture, hiding places, and food supply for them to survive.
What Attracts Fire Ants To Your Yard?
Fire ants follow other small insects and honeydew from plants they feed on. They’re also scavengers.
They can eat dead bugs, dead birds, and even dead rodents and reptiles.
The sugar, protein, and grease in the food attract them. Fire ants are also proficient underground tunnel makers that make them travel from one place to another.
Will These Tiny Red Ants Go Away On Their Own?
No, they won’t. You’ll have to get rid of these tiny red ants.
Your home, with the right amount of dampness and endless food supply, can make these ants stay forever inside your home.
How To Get Rid Of Fire Ants In Your Yard? – DIY Way
The fire ants are the most common in Florida, and they prefer to infest your yard or garden.
Given their aggressive behavior, they’re more likely to sting you than any other type of tiny red ants in Florida.
To get rid of these fire ants, you must begin looking out for the signs of fire ant infestation.
The hallmark of fire ant infestation in your yard is tiny mud hills with a crater at the top.
The crater is the entry and exit point of these fire ants. Underneath the cavity is a channel of tunnels that fire ants use to commute.
If you see these mud hills or ant mounds, don’t step on them. If you do, then it’s inevitable that the fire ants will sting you.
To get rid of these fire ants, all you’ve to do is pour a mixture of hot water and boric acid on the ant mound.
If you want to use insecticide, you can use a potent insecticide like Reclaim I/T as an alternative to boric acid.
Mix Reclaim I/T insecticide with water and pour the mixture in a pump sprayer. Then spray the mixture on the ant mounds or mud hills.
No matter what you choose, ensure you drench the ant mud hills. That will kill the queen ants and all other ants nesting underneath the ground.
Mixing insecticide is a more effective approach than pouring a mixture of hot water and boric acid.
Pouring hot water makes ants flea from through the tunnels they dug below the nest.
Summary
In this post, you’ve found three types of tiny red ants in Florida that are widespread. These ants are fire ants, pharaoh ants, and crazy ants.
You’ve got to know how they look like, and it’s the fire ants which is the reddest among the three.
Out of these three, the fire ants have the most painful bite, and pharaoh ants carry pathogens that can be dangerous to you.
Fire ants are more prone to nest in your yard or garden. We’ve revealed the DIY way of getting rid of fire ants from your yard that you can do use right away.
However, pharaoh ants are more prone to infest inside your home. And these are tough ants to get rid of through DIY ways.
If you encounter pharaoh ants inside your home, it’d be best to hire a pest controller rather than trying to get rid of them on your own.
We’re Mark and Jim, and we’re retired pest controllers who made homes pest-free for more than three decades. We, along with our team of experts, founded this site to give you the pest control hacks that work.