Bugs That Look Like Ants But Smaller

Bugs that look like ants can grow up to three times larger than their winged counterparts, and all of them are considered a nuisance for humans. All over the world, these non-traditional insect neighbors plague households. Ants enter homes looking for food and shelter during cold months. Bugs that look like ants. Ants are the most numerous of all the social insects and can be found in nearly every region of the world. Nearly 50 species have been documented in Oregon alone! Some ants are pests that eat your food, and some of them form colonies in huge mounds, while others just roam around your house looking for food and creating crazy patterns on your floor (weird is good though!). For some reason, there are a lot of bugs that look like ants. I’m not sure why there are so many ant look alikes, but I’m happy about it. Had it not been for these bugs looking like ants, how would we have been able to create this list of the top 10 most interesting photos of bugs that look like ants? So without further ado, let’s have a look at the photos you’ve come here to see:

Bugs That Look Like Ants But Smaller

Termites

Termites are probably the most misidentified pest of all.  The reason is that reproductive termites have wings, but so do all reproductive ants. Termites have four wings all of equal length, which they lose when they swarm. Below is what a common eastern subterranean termite with wings looks like.

The picture below shows worker termites. These insects also look like ants. Both are common in CT.

Stone flies

This is a commonly misidentified pest.  It’s called a stone fly.  The common stone fly is very long and slender.  Their eggs are laid in the water where young stone flies spend the first portion of their life.  They are a boom to the ecosystem as they are a food source for frogs and fish.  Many homeowners call because the stone fly is truly one of those bugs that looks like an ant when in fact they are not.  Stone flies do no damage and will likely disappear on their own.

Carpenter ants

The carpenter ant in Ct is also commonly misidentified.  The reason is that many people assume that carpenter ants are all robust looking ants.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.  In fact, carpenter ants come in all shapes and sizes just like people.  In the carpenter ant world individuals are broken down into major and minor workers.  The major workers are large and well fed.  As for the minor workers they’re smaller and are typically the first ants in the brood.  The picture below is of a carpenter ant major worker.

Many times in the pest control industry the internet is both a help and a harm.  In this day and age anyone can look up a picture and misidentify a pest.  Sometimes it would just be easier to call a pest control company and get a positive identification from the start.

List of Bugs That Look Like Ants But Smaller