Why Do Ants Fight?

Ants are some of the most recognizable pests you can experience in your home. However, in addition to being annoying, ants can also be extremely interesting. For example, if you’ve ever observed ants, then you may have seen one or more ants fighting, which leads to the question: Exactly why do ants fight?

Surprisingly, much like humans, ants fight for a variety of reasons, which is what makes them such fascinating insect. If you want to better understand the ants that are infiltrating your home, it can be a good idea to learn about a few of the different reasons they fight each other.

Why Do Ants Fight? Colony Stasis

One of the things most people know about ants is that their colonies have one queen that lays eggs. It’s been long speculated that one of the reasons ants fight in their own colonies is to protect the status of their queen when another female starts to lay eggs. However, recent evidence suggests that one of the reasons ants fight is to keep their colony healthy.

When an ant colony grows too large, it can cause a scarcity of food, putting the health of the colony at risk. There is evidence that ants fight and kill other ants in order to maintain a sustainable colony size.

Resources

Ants are similar to humans in a variety of ways, including their reasons for conflict. When two ant colonies go to war, it is for reasons that should be familiar to humans: Resources.

If two large ant colonies are located in the same area, it means they will be competing for resources — especially food. As you might expect, this easily leads to conflict between colonies, and usually all-out warfare. Ant colonies require a large amount of food to survive, and will fight in order to acquire this food.

Protection

Another way ants are similar to humans is that they are extremely territorial, and this is another reason that ants fight. If a colony believes it is being invaded by another group of ants, they will fight to the death to protect their colony. Typically, ants fight by swarming, which is when multiple ants surround and attack a single ant.

While ants will most commonly fight to protect their colony from other species of ants, they will also work together to defend their home against other invasive species. So, much like humans, ants will fight as hard as possible to protect their home.

Protect Your Home From Ants

If you’ve noticed multiple ants in your home swarming around a single ant, then chances are you’ve seen ants fighting. When ants fight in your home, it usually means they are struggling over a plentiful food source, which means the winner will stay in your home as long as there is food. To make sure your home is free from a troublesome ant infestation, it’s important to get help from pest control professionals.

The right pest control company will be able to determine how ants are entering your home and will be able to give you tips for preventing future infestations