The relationship between ants and termites isn’t exactly a friendly one.
Ants do eat termites, and they can do a lot of damage to a colony of termites. When a colony of thousands of ants decides to hunt termites, the termites can have a difficult time escaping.
This article will teach you about whether ants eat termites, how termites and ants can affect one another, as well as how ants might deal with a termite infestation for you.
What Eats Termites?
A lot of animals eat termites. Termites can be eaten by birds and rodents such as mice or squirrels, or even other insects such as ants. Some reptiles do eat termites, including certain species of lizards and snakes.
Do Ants Eat Termites?
Ants do eat termites. Depending on the species of ants, their favorite food will either be sugary substances or protein that they get from other insects – including termites. Some ants will hunt for live termites, while others will eat already dead termites. [1]
Termites are insects that have soft bodies without a distinct waist to separate the abdomen from their thorax.
They’re considered “subterranean” insects. This means they spend most of their time in underground nests rather than being out exposed on surfaces where ants can get them.
When termites do come up, they might be hunted and eaten by ants.
Do Black Ants Eat Termites?
Yes, black ants do eat termites. When black ants hunt for termites, they take a very strategic approach. For black ants to get to termites, they’ll invade their nest, where they’ll have a better chance at taking them down.
When the black ants have infiltrated the termite nest, they’ll attack them and carry the food back to their nest.
Why Do Ants Eat Termites
Ants will often eat all kinds of insects. Termites are often eaten by ants, because of their nutritional value.
Like all other animals, ants need carbohydrates and proteins. Termites are full of proteins, which is why it’s one of the ants’ favorite insects to eat.
You may also like: What do ants eat?
How Do Ants Eat Termites?
To eat termites, predatory ants will invade a termite nest, hunt down their prey and bring it back to their own colony. Here, the termite will be fed to the larvae first, as ants can’t digest termites on their own. Once the larvae have broken down the carcass, the workers will get to work, consuming the insect.
Are Ants A Sign Of Termites?
Ants can be a sign of termites, if you’re spotted predatory ants crawling through your home – but this isn’t always the case. Ants will most often invade your home for other reasons: food, warmth, moisture, or to find a great place to nest.
If you find ants in your home, you should make sure to investigate the infestation thoroughly, to make sure other insects are present.
Ants vs. Termites
Ants can do a good job of protecting your home by attacking termites. They are very effective at killing or driving off smaller colonies of termites that invade homes.
If it comes down to a war between the two species of insects, ants will usually win due to their power in numbers.
Read more: Termites vs. Ants: What’s the difference?
Will Ants Stop Termites?
The short answer is yes, ants will stop termites from infesting your home, but ants are also very smart. They know that if they wipe out the entire colony of termites, they will wipe out their food source.
Hence, ants won’t always remove termites completely from your home, but they will stop the colony from growing.
Should You Use Ants To Get Rid Of Termites?
No, you should not use ants to get rid of termites. You can’t fight an insect infestation with another insect. It would be like fighting fire with fire.
Instead, you should call an exterminator to deal with your problem. Exterminators are pest control professionals. They know how to deal with various pests, and they’ll make sure to take care of the termite infestation (without introducing other pests to your home).
Do Ants Ever Win Against Termites?
Yes, ants will often beat termites in a battle, but not always. This depends on the size of the two colonies. If the ant colony is big enough, they can overrun a colony of termites quite easily though.
If there aren’t enough ants in the colony, they will be beaten, which is detrimental to the growth of the colony. It might just take several months for the ants to get back to the numbers they were at before.
How To Deal With Ants & Termites
One of the most common methods used by do-it-yourselfers for dealing with ants is an insecticide spray that contains pyrethroids bifenthrin, cypermethrin, and lambda-cyhalothrin as its active ingredient [3].
While these chemicals are great at controlling the problem, they won’t always do a good job of eliminating the colony.
If you want to wipe out an ant nest, you should ask an exterminator for help.
For more info, check this article: How to Get Rid of Ants in Your Home and Garden?
Termites, on the other hand, are much more difficult to deal with than just spraying them and wiping them all out.
Termite nests can be found in soil or tree roots located near your home’s foundation, so you’ll have to do some digging around for this pest.
If you want to try killing the termites yourself, you can apply termite-killing products to your home’s exterior, as well as use termite bait stations.
Termites can do a lot of damage. If you want to make sure you get rid of them, it’s best to call a professional exterminator who can do termite treatment safely and successfully.
Infestation Problems
Infestation problems can be a real pain for everyone.
While ants typically won’t do much damage to your house (except if it’s a wood-infesting ant), termites can do some real damage.
Termites eat wood, which is why it’s important to get rid of them fast. Signs of termites include buckling wood, swollen floors and ceilings.
What Bugs Or Insects, Apart From Ants, Kill And Eat Termites?
Termites do have natural predators, many of them being bugs or insects that prey on them for food.
Some of these termite predators include:
- Wasps
- Antlions
- Various beetles
- Mantids (or Preying Mantis)
- Cockroaches
Conclusion
To summarize, ants do eat termites. Ants are omnivores, meaning they eat both plants and meat – most of this meat comes from other insects. Ants can both eat already dead termites or hunt for live prey.
