{"id":722,"date":"2010-06-02T13:59:06","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T17:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/?page_id=722"},"modified":"2025-09-09T13:28:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T17:28:14","slug":"195-allegheny-mound-ant","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/resources\/insect\/195-allegheny-mound-ant\/","title":{"rendered":"195-Beneficial Insect Series 1: Allegheny Mound Ant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Fact Sheet No. 195, UMaine Extension No. 2005<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>Prepared by Beth Ann Choate, Graduate Research Assistant; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology\/Entomology; and David E. Yarborough, Extension Blueberry Specialist, the University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. February 2008. This fact sheet was funded in part by the Maine Agricultural Center.<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The Allegheny mound ant, <em>Formica exsectoides<\/em> Forel, is native throughout eastern North America from Nova Scotia to Georgia.\u00a0 Colonies form thatched, bare mounds that are common throughout Maine wild blueberry fields, open forested areas, and old-field habitats.\u00a0 During the summer months, ants are voracious predators feeding on pest populations damaging the surrounding vegetation.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Description<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Mounds are noticeable throughout a variety of habitats, especially in areas lacking tall vegetation that may shade the colony from sunlight.\u00a0 Workers remove all vegetation from the top of the mound and surrounding area by formic acid injection.\u00a0 The mound serves as a solarium, collecting heat from direct sunlight to warm the colony.\u00a0 Mounds are composed of coarse sand and often covered in one to two inches of thatch. This layer of thatch may serve to protect the mound from extremes in weather conditions.\u00a0 Measurements of several mounds in Maine wild blueberry fields indicate a diameter of one to four feet, with heights ranging between 0.5 and 2.5 feet.\u00a0 The literature indicates mounds can reach a diameter of 15 to18 feet and to a height of 3.5 feet.\u00a0 Nest diameter may be used to estimate the number of individuals within a colony: if 6\u201d to 18\u201d from 500 to 3,000; 18\u201d to 36\u201d from 1,000 to 6,000; and if 36\u201d to 60\u201d then 3,000 to 10,000 ants could be present.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-722 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-medium'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2010\/06\/antworker.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"179\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2010\/06\/antworker.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"antworker\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-934\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2010\/06\/antworker.jpg 250w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2010\/06\/antworker-105x75.jpg 105w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,250px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-934'>\n\t\t\t\tAllegheny mound ant worker. Photo \u00a9 Alex Wild, <a href=\"http:\/\/myrmecos.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">myrmecos.net<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2010\/06\/Mound-small.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2010\/06\/Mound-small-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"Mound structure in wild blueberry field.\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-935\" srcset=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2010\/06\/Mound-small.jpg 300w, https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2010\/06\/Mound-small-105x79.jpg 105w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 320px) 85vw, (max-width: 768px) 67vw, (max-width: 1024px) 62vw,300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-935'>\n\t\t\t\tAllegheny mound structure in wild blueberry field.\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>A single Allegheny mound ant colony may contain one or many queens.\u00a0 Both workers and queens have a reddish-orange head and thorax and black abdomen and legs.\u00a0 Workers vary in size from 1\/8 to 1\/4 of an inch long, while queens are larger, ranging in size between 3\/8 and 1\/2 inches long.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Biology<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The complete life cycle of an Allegheny mound ant, from egg to adult, ranges from 2 to 3 months, depending upon soil temperatures.\u00a0 In Maine wild blueberry fields, workers and queens hibernate in burrows deep below the mound from mid-October to mid-May.\u00a0 As temperatures increase in the spring, colonies become active, building up the mound and removing vegetation from the surface.\u00a0 Small, white elliptical eggs are found within the mound around mid-June.\u00a0 Eggs hatch in 2-4 weeks revealing white, legless larvae.\u00a0 Larvae are completely dependent upon foraging workers for food and survival.\u00a0 Workers collect a variety of small insects and other arthropods such as spiders, daddy longlegs, etc. from areas surrounding the mound, which are within a 50 to 100-foot radius in blueberry fields, to feed their larvae.\u00a0 Larval development takes approximately 3 to 7 weeks.\u00a0 Upon completion of the larval stage, pupae are formed and remain within the pupal stage for approximately 2 weeks.\u00a0 Adults emerge as new workers and are much lighter in color than the older workers.\u00a0 Queens produce several batches of eggs throughout the summer months.\u00a0 Activity decreases in September as the queen ceases to lay eggs and workers and queens move deep into the mound.<\/p>\n<p>Allegheny mound ants have been observed scavenging upon honeydew produced by aphids and leafhoppers, dead vertebrates and arthropods, and seeds; and preying upon most small arthropods they encounter.\u00a0 Workers can effectively control insect pests within jack pine stands, preying upon various stages of redheaded pine sawfly, jack pine budworm, gypsy moth, and white pine weevil.\u00a0 In wild blueberry fields, ants have been observed preying on caterpillars, beetles, treehoppers, leafhoppers, grasshoppers, crickets, wasps and flies.\u00a0 Specific pest insects that are preyed upon in Maine wild blueberry fields include red striped fire worm, blueberry flea beetle larvae and pupae, blueberry leaf beetle, and grasshoppers. The Allegheny mound ant plays a vital role in preying upon pest species in a variety of ecosystems, from home gardens to small vegetable and fruit cropping systems.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Management<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The negative impacts of these colonies are the destruction of blueberry rhizomes and shoots in the immediate vicinity of the mound, but this is minor compared to the large benefit of pest control that is provided by the ants.\u00a0 To encourage populations of mound ants, it is important not to let fields become overgrown with tall vegetation that may block sunlight.\u00a0 Mounds act as solaria to capture heat in the early spring for incubation of ant brood. Research has demonstrated that colonies in shaded areas have a low probability of survival.\u00a0 However, some vegetation other than wild blueberry is essential to support honeydew-producing insects which are one of the major energy sources for the foraging workers.\u00a0 Honeydew-producing insects are not pests of wild blueberry in Maine; therefore, weeds that serve as a host plant for these insects are important in supplying these ants with necessary carbohydrates for energy.\u00a0 The spraying of insecticides in wild blueberry fields can negatively impact the prevalence of colonies. This may be one reason, in addition to the weed diversity and abundance, which organic fields tend to have more mounds than more intensively managed conventional fields.\u00a0 Insect pest control measures detrimental to ant workers include the application of the insecticides phosmet and spinosad, while other insecticides such as methoxyfenozide, and the biological control fungus, <em>Beauvaria bassiana<\/em> affect the ants much less and should be used if ant conservation and enhancement of natural control agents is desired.\u00a0 Conservation of this species is dependent upon areas with ample insect prey to sustain a colony, early successional vegetation that allows sunlight penetration to the ground surface, and the selection of least toxic insecticides for pest management.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><i>Information\u00a0in this publication is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of\u00a0products\u00a0or services mentioned. No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is\u00a0criticism\u00a0of unnamed products or companies implied.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u00a9 2008<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Call 800.287.0274 (in Maine), or 207.581.3188, for information on publications and program offerings from University of Maine Cooperative Extension, or visit\u00a0<\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/\"><span class=\"s2\"><b>extension.umaine.edu<\/b><\/span><\/a><b>.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><i>The University of Maine is an EEO\/AA employer, and does not discriminate on the grounds of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender expression, national origin, citizenship status, age, disability, genetic information or veteran\u2019s status in employment, education, and all other programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Director of Equal Opportunity, 101 Boudreau Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469-5754, 207.581.1226, TTY 711 (Maine Relay System).<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Fact Sheet No. 195, UMaine Extension No. 2005 Prepared by Beth Ann Choate, Graduate Research Assistant; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology\/Entomology; and David E. Yarborough, Extension Blueberry Specialist, the University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. February 2008. This fact sheet was funded in part by the Maine Agricultural Center. Introduction The Allegheny mound ant, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":18838,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-722","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>195-Beneficial Insect Series 1: Allegheny Mound Ant - Cooperative Extension: Maine Wild Blueberries - University of Maine Cooperative Extension<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/extension.umaine.edu\/blueberries\/resources\/insect\/195-allegheny-mound-ant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"195-Beneficial Insect Series 1: Allegheny Mound Ant - Cooperative Extension: Maine Wild Blueberries - University of Maine Cooperative Extension\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fact Sheet No. 195, UMaine Extension No. 2005 Prepared by Beth Ann Choate, Graduate Research Assistant; Frank Drummond, Professor of Insect Ecology\/Entomology; and David E. 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