Around Colorado
Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.
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Local ant information
Ant control in Colorado
Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.
Ants in Colorado: what to know
Where the trail leads
Look for the rooms and outdoor areas where you regularly notice ants. Food, water, and small openings are useful things to mention when asking for help.
A useful next step
Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to know the ant species before getting in touch.
Local research
Ants in Colorado: what the public record shows
Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which ants actually live in Colorado, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.
Ant species recorded in Colorado
- Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) — Large black or bicolored ants (1/4 to 1/2 inch) that excavate moist or decayed wood for nests rather than eating it; indoor nests are usually satellites of an outdoor parent col…
- Odorous house ant (Tapinoma sessile) — Small (1/16–1/8 inch) brown-black ant that smells like rotten coconut when crushed; found throughout North America with the widest range and greatest ecological tolerance of any…
- Pavement ant (Tetramorium immigrans (T. caespitum)) — Small dark-brown ant (about 1/8 inch) with grooved head that nests under sidewalks, driveways and stones and piles soil at nest entrances; the most common pest ant in and around…
- Harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex spp.) — Desert seed-gathering ants (1/4–1/2 inch) that clear 4- to 35-foot bare circles around nests up to three feet deep; 22 species occur in the U.S., several in Arizona. They sting…
When ants are busiest in Colorado
Field ants migrate into homes in spring when soils warm; swarms occur on sunny, calm days a few days after heavy rain (Colorado State).
CSU Fact Sheet 5.518 says pavement ants arrived in Colorado only in recent decades but are now the most commonly noticed species; odorous house ants are a recent arrival; carpenter ants (1/4–3/8 inch) rarely nest indoors except at prior water damage. Baits are the most satisfactory control.
For context, nationally
- more than 367 million acres — Acres infested by imported fire ants. USDA APHIS
- Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Puerto Rico — States and territories with imported fire ant infestations (APHIS). USDA APHIS
Sources: USDA APHIS; Carpenter Ants; Odorous House Ant (Tapinoma sessile Say), EB1550E; Pavement Ants; Harvester Ants (Backyard Gardener #16). Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources
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