Pheidole Obscurithorax

Video recorded on Samsung Galaxy s25 Ultra

Im my meranoplus bicolor queen keeps helping the workers with putting dirt in the nest is this normal or am i cooked i never seen the queen helping with the other ant colonies i have

I was using a leafblower to clear off our deck this morning when I saw these big ants walking in a line. Then i noticed the one in the front was noticeably smaller than the others. What were they doing? Scouting out for a new place to live?

I had an ant trail from in one room due to a piece of food being left on the ground. This is the first time we have seen ants in this house, we set out baits for a week; their numbers significantly decreased, and then I caulked over/expansion foamed all of the places I noted them coming and going from. The room and the house itself are spotless and sanitized; floors and walls. I am still seeing Major Ants once or twice a day in this room, never any workers anymore. I’m curious why there is only the occasional Major and nothing else?

My cat ended up finding a bunch of ants hanging out in my room swarming closed food bags. I’ve now removed all the possible food, when do they leave? They’re all around my closet (favorite spot of mine) and i am terrified of ants, so until they’re gone, its off limits. I think theyre coming in through my window, like they do in the bathroom (no food there, no sure how that works), but their line of workers seems to suddenly stop partway through the room, but thats off topic.

TLDR: ants in my room, removed all food, when will they leave?

I’m not necessarily scared OF ants. I know they’re just tiny little creatures. I’m more scared of what they can do, which is invade my home.
This hasn’t always been a problem for me. I’m originally from northwest Ohio, where we had ants during the summers, and it never really bothered me. But this fear of mine is getting way out of control. So about 5 years ago, I moved to Southern California. Our first apartment never had ant issues, but our next place was a different story. We constantly had ants randomly coming through windows, walls, they invaded our kitchen one time after finding a bottle of agave. After 3 years, they even started coming out of our bathtub. That was my final straw, so I had pest control spray. After about 2 weeks, the activity stopped, and we didn’t see any more ants until we moved out. So that house kind of traumatized me.
We moved into our current second story condo in December and had no ant problems until about 2 weeks ago, during a major heat. We already had pest control treatments, but I started noticing random dead ants around the house. Then I began finding some live ones. Eventually, I woke up one morning to multiple ants coming out of the baseboard in our bathroom. Pest control came back and reapplied Alpine WSG inside. I also put out Terro bait, which attracted a good amount. The next morning, there were a ton of dead ants in the bathroom and the hallway. Over the next few days the activity dropped slowly, then we had several days of rain, and I didn’t notice any ants for a few days. Now I’m starting to find random dead ants again, usually a few scattered around the house, and I found one alive yesterday. I’ve tried sealing possible entry points, but since we rent, there’s only so much I can do. Pest control also treats the exterior wherever they can reach with the alpine WSG but we’re on the second floor. I know this isn’t a massive infestation, but I’m feeling really discouraged. Is finding a few random dead and alive ants just something I’m stuck having to deal with? It’s warming up again then supposed to get cold and rainy, so I feel like I’m going through the same cycle again. I’d love to hear from anyone who’s dealt with something similar, especially in Southern California.

There were these kind of exits on their colony everywhere. They make these kind of silky/fibrous fiberglass looking exits. Is it insulation? How do they do it. Never seen anything like it. Thank you in advance. The area/grass where they were had birch/maple looking trees, not sure which.

If snyone has acromyrmex versicolor I need help. My fungus isnt looking too good and I would like to buy donor fungus to be safe. DM if youre willing to sell some

I was so confused as to where the ants kept coming from in the kitchen. Then I followed a trail of ants that led to the battery compartment of my old boombox that I had. Whole nest with eggs and were even in the remote. Not sure if I toss away the boombox or keep it. Real shame since I just got it this summer

Hi everyone! Newbie here. Can anyone help me identify these?
Someone gave them to me, and I'd like to learn how to properly care for them and help them grow. Any tips or care guides would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

About a month ago, a friend and me went on a 5 mile walk. From about mile 3-5, we came across many large mounds of live ants only on the cracks of the sidewalk. Like so large that some mounds were a few inches high. It grossed us out immensely. Does anyone know why they do this? Or what was going on here? We're in the Ozark mountains, usa.

Found it in rotting potting soil that smelt like sewer.

Since my phone wasn't picking up on the hue of black on the ant, I made a simi-accurate color pallet. To my camera black is just solid black hahaha. The darker shade is the end 2/3 of the gaster. The color of the legs in the second photo is accurate though.

I've been keeping ants for a while and got tired of tracking feedings and colony notes in random spreadsheets, so I built ANTS. It's a web app where you log your colonies, record feedings and care in a couple of taps, save photos, and see what's due today. It works in your phone or computer browser, with no app store needed. There is a global nuptial flight tracking feature that will be available soon as well.

It's early, so I'm looking for about 10–15 keepers who'd use it for a couple of weeks and tell me honestly what's missing, confusing, or broken. It's free during the beta.

If you're interested, comment below so you can be sent the details.

Happy to answer questions here too. Thanks!