How do Ants Build Anthills?

Not all ant species create large ant mounds. Some ants build smaller ant craters like the craters between concrete gaps and asphalt slabs that pavement ants build. Some common mound-building ant species are harvester ants, pyramid ants, Argentine ants, Allegheny mound ants, Texas leafcutter ants and red imported fire ants. Mounds are one of the most obvious indications that ant colony is present. However, what you see above ground represents only a small portion of what occurs with overall construction of the ant nest.

Ant mounds are built by worker ants that remove below ground soil they excavate during tunneling and nest chamber construction. That soil is then deposited above ground, thus forming the mound. The ant mound has three major purposes. The mound serves as the entrance to the below ground nest; the mound helps control the nest’s internal temperature; and it helps protect the nest from predators or other intruders that might damage or destroy the nest. Ant mounds usually consist of fine particles of soil or perhaps bits of plant material.

In addition to bites and stings, the presence of ants and their mounds may include damage to landscape grasses and ground cover, and an overall reduction to the property’s aesthetics. Regardless of the nature of the problems, managing ant nests and mounds is a job best left to your pest management professional because he or she knows how to safely and effectively deal with the problems created by ants and ant mounds.