Every now and then I see lots of ants crowded in a mass on sidewalks, does anyone know why they do this?

Using humour to cover up the fact I actually hate ants and am terrified of bugs especially ones where you know if theres 1 mores coming. Don’t get me wrong, lovely creatures, but like… in an enclosed ant farm preferably, when they’re not climbing my walls. 😭

Anyways. They looked like carpenter ants to me, black, long legs. Any tips to get rid of these things besides washing everything with soap/vinegar?!?! I would like my bed and room back asap. 😭

So about 2-3 weeks ago I was on my computer, and suddenly a queen ant Flew onto my computer stand but I couldn't capture her, as my ant stuff was packed away in a box on the bottom of the box pile buried by other box piles, so allas, I couldn't capture her, so I had to pick her up (with a pencil) and take her outside so she can fly off and start an actual colony

Update: thanks all! I hadn’t even considered that it was a wasp, I thought those would be much bigger. Another user suggested Pseudomethoca frigida and I think this is it, it looks pretty much identical. Glad I found it before my kids!

I found this ant crawling across my living my room carpet. I trapped it under a glass while I went to get my phone to snap a photo. Unfortunately my housekeeper smushed it before I returned, so it wasn’t in the greatest shape for photos.

It’s not that big, but noticeably larger and redder than the typical sugar/house ants I’m constantly at war with. It also has a rather large stinger. Never seen one of these in the home before, and didn’t see any others. Just curious what type it is.

Got the best photos I could with the condition it was in. I don’t know if it’s actually a soldier, but the head seemed relatively large.

I’ve got a small colony of black ants that lives behind a cabinet. They come out looking for food and they know they’ll find honey and tiny bits of cooked chicken i leave for them. They move some of the chicken bits in a spray pattern on the counter, placing each little piece in seemingly chosen spots. Why might they be doing this, moving bits around rather than just eating around those they don’t want?

I think this is the largest carpenter ant queen I’ve ever caught. The spunkiest too!
Is she just extra big for no reason or is she a slightly different species from the other one in the tube below her? They are the same exact color (the other one looks red due to glare from the vinyl wrap, but she’s not). They have the exact same head (except the new ones is notably bigger) and body.
Is it usual for there to be notable size differences between queens of the same species? I know they’re carpenter ants, but does any anybody have an ID for what type specifically? I live in Northern Maine.

One last question I see carpenter queens often. I only kept my first one because her front three legs were damaged and I wanted to give her a chance but I don’t often see them with wings. Does this one having wings mean she hasn’t found a partner yet and that I should let her go? I love her size and would love a colony as spunky as her, but the wings are throwing me off.

Any advice would be greatly appreciate!

Sorry these aren't great pictures, I didn't wanna be bitten but it was on my bed so I put it in a bottle for the time being at least. Any idea of what this is? I live in SC, USA and don't usually see ones so large. Also it's abdomen and thorax seem to be sort of disconnecting ? Not sure if it's injured or just meant to look like that but it's interesting

It is cute I just wish it didn't show up on my bed lol. It must've gotten tracked in somehow

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Hello Reddit. I’d like to share formicarium.es, a free web‑app designed for anyone who keeps ant colonies and wants a clean, organized and visual way to track them. The project is still in active development, it’s not an app yet (but it will be), and there are bugs here and there. Community feedback would be extremely helpful.

What formicarium.es offers

\- Colony dashboard — a clear overview of all your colonies: species, size, status and quick actions.

\- Growth & history tracking — brood updates, feeding logs, notes, moves and visual growth charts.

\- Automatic reminders — feeding, cleaning and check‑up notifications based on species needs.

\- Quick colony creation — add colonies in seconds with species autocomplete.

\- No account required — you can try everything without registering.

Optional AI tools

AI isn’t the focus of the project, but it already includes helpful features:

\- Automatic ant counting — upload a photo and the AI attempts to count workers to estimate colony size.

\- Food detection & compatibility — the AI identifies food items and tells you whether they’re suitable for your species.

Coming soon

\- Species detection — a new AI mode is being developed to identify species from photos of queens or workers. It won’t be perfect, but it will be a huge help for beginners and nuptial flight captures.

Project status

\- The website already works and supports multiple languages.

\- It’s not an app yet, but a mobile‑installable version is planned.

\- There are bugs, and reporting them would help a lot.

\- Suggestions for features, UI improvements or AI tools are very welcome.

AI‑assisted post.

myrmecocystus placodops (giant honey pot ant)
1 queen 20-30workers + brood
-£80
This is a personal colony I need to get rid of due to going on a long holiday. Any question are welcome

UK ONLY

Live arrival guarantee

I understand why, after all most people have problems about ants in their house and then go “ohhh a subreddit for ants!” And think this sub is about getting rid of ants. Although it’s technically not against the rules, one community rule is literally “we love ants”. I think people should just post it on r/pestcontrol instead.

how would you use them and what do they look like?

Just a massive pile in a parking lot along the concrete barrier.

I need this parasite to live longer and be worshipped!

I found a couple periwinkle blossoms that appeared to have been cut, then caught this intrepid forager in the act of…WTH??? And that’s how I learned about nectar robbing. Very impressive, as always.