Ants

Ants are some of the most common pests in Colorado and can be highly active in certain Front Range neighborhoods.

From unsightly ant hills popping up in your driveway and yard to unwelcome interior entry, ants can be a headache for homeowners in many ways.

These are some of the most common species of ants in Colorado:

Pavement Ants

Pest control technician posing with a small bottle of ant bait next to an ant hill in the backyard of a Colorado home.

As their name suggests, pavement ants can be found near sidewalks, pavement cracks, spaces in between landscape pavers and bricks. These ants are either light brown or black and about 1/4 inch in size.


Although they are mostly active outside, Pavement Ants eat almost anything and can actively infest a home to search for food.

Infestations can be difficult to treat without professional help. This is especially true during mating season.

Sugar Ants

A group of light brown ants eating a sugar cube.

‘Sugar Ant’ is a general name used for several Colorado ant species that invade the inside of a home - usually looking for sugary food.

Most of the time, it is the Odorous House Ant species in Colorado that gets referred to as “sugar ants” and are what a homeowner will see.

Topping out at around 3mm, these ant’s size allows them to slip through the smallest cracks around foundations and window frames.

They are attracted to easily accessible food sources and spills but can also make their way into a home due to the expansion of their budding colony.

Two large dark brown carpenter ants resting on tree bark.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter Ants are the largest ant species in Colorado. Their appearance can range from dark red to black.

These ants are attracted to damp, unfinished wood. While they do not actually eat wood like termites, they will tunnel through the wood where they will make their nests and hibernate.

Carpenter Ant colonies that make their way indoors are typically satellite colonies of an outdoor nest. These indoor colonies can grow for some periods of time within the walls of a house before being detected.

As they are wood destroying organisms, Carpenter Ants have the potential to cause substantial structural damage if not identified and treated in a timely manner.

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