Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

What causes these big gathering of ants on a sidewalk?

+7
−0

Here is a whole bunch of ants gathered on a sidewalk around dusk, I have seen this before so its not totally uncommon.

Clump of ants on a sidewalk

What would lead to ants doing this?

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

0 comment threads

1 answer

+7
−0

These look like the pavement ant (Tetramorium caespitum)—also known as the sugar ant in parts of North America

The are very common in the US, and the photo indicates the are probably having an ant battle.

Although you may see pavement ants during the day, they are most active at night. If you happen to have more than one colony on your property or another one nearby in the neighborhood—and you happen to be observing at the right time—you just might witness the unique event of an ant battle or its aftermath. Pavement ant colonies will fight for territory, and these battles can leave hundreds of dead ants on the battlefield. Source

Your image look much like this one on Wikipedia Battle between pavement ant colonies on sidewalk, May 2019, Mount Vernon, Washington, US

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »