If you give an ant a cookie, it will eat it.
如果您给蚂蚁一只死昆虫，它也可能会吃掉。
Honestly, if you let ants near your home, they will eat just about anything edible in your house!
以下是蚂蚁的一些识别点，也是您在美国可能遇到的最常见物种。
埃德（Ed）多年来一直在害虫防治行业工作，帮助1,000名房主在昆虫和啮齿动物管理的世界中浏览。他管理害虫策略现在帮助世界各地的房主！
Table of Contents
基本的蚂蚁生物学
蚂蚁居住在数千个集中或几名皇后的人的殖民地中。
他们分为several castesof workers, soldiers, and drones which look different from one another. Another notable characteristic is that most of the ants you see are actually female.
Male ants are rarer and do not fulfill many functions within the colony besides reproduction.
继续阅读以了解更多！
那么，蚂蚁是什么样的？
蚂蚁是昆虫，这意味着它们有头，胸部和腹部。他们的身体仍然分为这些three sections, and they also have a pair of large antennae attached to their head.
大多数物种都小于1/2英寸,和人y are even tinier than 1/4 of an inch. Some have wings but do not fly far.
它们的颜色从黑色到棕色，再到红色，再到黄色，再到白色。蚂蚁有compound eyesand mandibles designed to crush and chew food.
They often live in mounds they create out of dirt, but can also live in wood and around homes. The workers carry food back to the nests to be enjoyed by the others.
蚂蚁的类型是什么？
There are over1,000种蚂蚁在美国。这些类型各不相同，是地理和气候，但可能会给家庭和企业主带来类似的问题。
有些以中断野餐而闻名，而另一些则通过入侵建筑物和破坏木制结构而造成严重的问题。
Here’s a basic guide on the most common ants you might encounter.
- Acrobat Ant:Acrobat ants live throughout the United States and were named because of the weird way the workers curve their abdomens. Theylike to infest wood可以在门和窗框中找到，木匠蚂蚁损坏或腐烂的树桩。他们吃蜜糖，而不是木头。
- 木匠蚂蚁：无论您是住在宫殿，火柴盒还是常规房屋中，您都可能会担心木匠蚂蚁。他们钻进wood of homes and other buildings令人惊讶地形成大型殖民地，实际上不吃木头，而是寻找蛋白质和糖。他们的一些常见食物是死昆虫，蜜露和冰箱中的果酱。点击这里以获取我们的recommended carpenter ant killers。
- 玉米田蚂蚁：You are not safe from cornfield ants if you live in the city! Cornfield ants were named because theyeat the young of corn aphids并在玉米田周围发现。他们还可以入侵房屋，以寻找水果，果冻，面包和其他人类食用的糖。
- Little Black Ant:当您想到房屋蚂蚁时，您可能会想到这个小害虫。小黑蚂蚁也称为common house antand live in most of the environments around the United States. They can eat just about anything, including sugars, meat, vegetables, honeydew from plants, and other insects!
- Pavement Ant:This is another type of ant with a self-explanatory name. Pavement ants are a sluggish species which live in and around sidewalks. During the凉爽的冬季，they congregate in and near houses for heat, and they eat a lot of standard food indoors. Like other ants, they seek out sugars and proteins and eat human food as well as other insects.
蚂蚁吃什么？
Because there are so many species of ants, they actually eat a variety of foods, but the majority of ant’s diet preferences can be grouped up into two main categories.
- Sugar Rich Foods:爱的大多数蚂蚁属于这一类succulent taste of sugar rich food. The sugar itself can come from pretty much any normal house hold food item.
- Protein Rich Food:Proteins in foods like peanut butter will attract ants in droves. Other types of protein foods are usually other bugs! A common “protein ant” most homeowners have come into contact with are fire ants!
蚂蚁喜欢食用的糖可以在植物或储藏室中的许多标准食品中找到，例如面包，谷物，糖果，花生酱和果酱。
In contrast, the proteins can come from your food if its left on the counter, like ground meat and chicken. However, an ant’s main source of protein are dead insects and even other ants!
Honeydew是一个sugar-packed liquids produced by aphidswhen they digest leaves. It can leak down tree trunks or plant stems and can be collected from the ground.
Some aphid populations even form symbiotic populations with ants and trade honeydew production for protection from larger predators.
If you have an ant problem and you’re not sure what the diet preference is for the ants in your house, then a common trick is to layout two different baits.
一个诱饵是带有旁酱（蛋白质诱饵）的盘子，另一个诱饵是带有果冻（糖诱饵）的盘子。将它们放下并检查一下，您的蚂蚁追随者。
您应该看到对一个或另一个的绝对偏好。根据他们选择的不同，您需要在糖蚂蚁和颗粒类型的诱饵中购买凝胶诱饵，以供养成蚂蚁的蛋白质。
Check out this buying guideif you need help picking!
蚂蚁吃什么？
If you have an ant problem and you’re not sure what the diet preference is for the ants in your house, then a common trick is to layout two different baits.
One bait is a plate with peanut butter (protein bait) and the other bait is a plate with jelly (sugar bait). Sit them both down and check to see, which your ants go after.
Find A Local Exterminator
蚂蚁会杀死或吃草吗？
您可能会想知道您的草坪是否有这些顽强的害虫处于危险之中。他们会吃你的珍贵草吗？
Usually, whenever ants are present, you will find bald or dead patches of grass throughout your yard.
Ants actually don’t eat it!
Most grown ants will not eat grass, but they mightcarry grass seed回到他们的殖民地作为食物。蚂蚁丘还可能导致草的死亡，因为它们通过移动土壤和污垢破坏了根系。
如果蚂蚁去除种子，那么您将无法种植新草。
Do Ants Eat Leaves?
如果您有花园或树木，您可能会担心蚂蚁正在吃树叶。有时，您可能会看到黑蚂蚁沿着树枝刺伤，想知道他们是否需要在叶子上盛宴才能生存。您甚至可能会看到一头叶子的蚂蚁！
But, in the United States, ants don’t actually eat leaves.
If you live in South America or Mexico, there are 47 different species ofleafcutter antswhich carry leaves for food, but not in the U.S.
These ants use leaves as the base to grow fungus gardens for nutrition, but they don’t actually eat them. Instead, they use the building blocks of the leave’s structure to produce a new food source.
将其视为人类农业的蚂蚁版本！
Will Ants Eat Poisoned Bait?
If you have an ant problem, you’re in luck!
Ants do eat毒饵and will bring it back to their colonies. They are attracted to its sweet taste, will munch on a little bit, and will then bring it to share with the others.
Most poison baits are slow-acting, so the ants have time to spread it throughout the colony, eventually killing the soldiers, the workers, and even the queen.
Ants And Their Diets, Final Thoughts
Ants will eat almost anything they can find, excluding common items like grass, leaves, and woods. If you are struggling with an ant infestation, the main course of action should be to identify the location of the colony.
Once you do, you can lay poisoned bait or call a professional pest control company to help you fight back before the ants enter your home.
需要解决蚂蚁问题的帮助，查看本指南for further reading.
