What is the life cycle of ant colonies in the winter? I've…
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What is the life cycle of ant colonies in the winter?
I've been having a big problem with ants this summer. Even if there's no food around, I'll find a handful of them on the floor each day. If there is food, they'll find it and swarm my house. I suspect there's a colony directly outside the basement wall, but I haven't found it.
The thing is, this past week they've disappeared. I'm in southern Ontario, and it's September, which means the sweltering heat of the summer is pretty much gone and we're starting to see slightly cooler temps. Still, it's nothing like freezing, overnight it still stays above ten degrees at the lowest, usually more like fifteen.
So, aside from the colony dying off for some reason, I'm wondering why they're now gone. Is it just a matter of various signals (daylight changes etc) causing the ants to go into winter mode? Do they lay eggs and then let the adults die off in preparation for the cold weather?
I don't know what species it is, they're very small, perhaps three millimeters long and dark brown. I think they might be T. immigrans.
#science
source
I've been having a big problem with ants this summer. Even if there's no food around, I'll find a handful of them on the floor each day. If there is food, they'll find it and swarm my house. I suspect there's a colony directly outside the basement wall, but I haven't found it.
The thing is, this past week they've disappeared. I'm in southern Ontario, and it's September, which means the sweltering heat of the summer is pretty much gone and we're starting to see slightly cooler temps. Still, it's nothing like freezing, overnight it still stays above ten degrees at the lowest, usually more like fifteen.
So, aside from the colony dying off for some reason, I'm wondering why they're now gone. Is it just a matter of various signals (daylight changes etc) causing the ants to go into winter mode? Do they lay eggs and then let the adults die off in preparation for the cold weather?
I don't know what species it is, they're very small, perhaps three millimeters long and dark brown. I think they might be T. immigrans.
#science
source
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