Most of the calls we get involve little black ants. If you have little black ants, you can see more info here, or continue reading.  It gets better, honest :) See also ant identification based on size below.

For a guide to identifying winged ants: see the link - Flying Ants because the information below will not apply.  Ants with wings are reproductives and it is really tough to identify your type of ants from a winged specimen.

A quick identification guide to:

In our area we lump two different kinds of ants together to make this generalization. Moisture ants are often in homes for years before being noticed.  When they are noticed it is typically because someone is repairing some rot or water damage and the tiny to medium sized ants are found in the area of damage or just as commonly, between July and September a swarm of ants will occur in the home.  The female swarmers or a reddish brown and about the same size as Carpenter ant workers and are sometimes mistaken for those ants especially when they lose their wings. The males are tiny and dark, about the size of a gnat or a large mosquito.

Like the odorous house ant noted above, these ants are often seen inside during the spring.  They forage for food or moisture for a few weeks and then when their real food sources develop outside they seem to vanish.  This is a clear indicator of nesting activity in the home. 

There are over a dozen different species of Carpenter ants. The most common are a very dark brown.  They may however be brown with a dark red middle section, black, and sometimes completely red. 

Unlike most ants that you will encounter, Carpenter ants come in multiple sizes.  The largest number of ants in a colony and all the ants when the colony is young will be minor workers, that is, workers of a smaller size. As the colony matures it produces medium size and major size ants. 

A really good indicator that you have Carpenter ants is when you see ants that look like each other, occur in the same areas, but vary in size. 

Carpenter ants swarm typically in May or early June.  Female swarmers are very large, up to an inch or so, and the males are about a half inch.

Identifying ants by size:

Since almost all ants are little in comparison to us, lets set some size parameters that should be easy for all of us.

If you stack pennies on top of each other you will get 16 to 17 pennies in an inch.  All the ants noted below are sized by the thickness of a penny.

Tiny:

Ants as small as 1 penny thick but less than two pennies-

Big Headed ants, Thief ants, Pharaoh ants, Rover ants, some species of Odorous house ants, Ghost ants, Large yellow ants, and Little Black ants. (Yes, there is a little black ant species named: Little Black ants.  All of these ants are about a 1/16th of an inch long.

Little:

From two to three pennies thick-

Acrobat ant, Argentine ant, Cornfield ant, Pavement ants, White Footed ant, and some species of Odorous House ants. These ants are about an 1/8th of an inch to just over an 1/8th.

Medium-

From three to four pennies thick: Velvety Tree ants, Carpenter ants start at this size, at least some species, and even the minor workers of the larger species. Up to a quarter of an inch long.

Big-

Carpenter ants may be from 4 pennies to 9 pennies wide.  If you are seeing ants that range in size but all look the same, same color and shape- you probably have Carpenter ants.   If they are all exactly the same size, you may have some species of Thatching ants.

Identifying ants based on color