Springtime is a time for insects to make their presence known in a bigger way. That may be found in large brown dirt mounds around the yard.
So, an ant hill is one thing, but an ant mound can be another. Those ant colony homes can be a foot in diameter or more. In most cases, it may be just what some consider a front yard eyesore. But, University of Kentucky Entomologist Jonathan Larson said many a mound is beneficial.
“Field ants and Allegany mound ants, they have these large colonies, and they have to feed everybody in there. So, sometimes they actually become beneficial. They help to cut down on pest populations, even things like ticks that are in a given spot because they’re harvesting all this food to feed to one another,” said Larson.
Larson said the ants also aerate the soil as they dig and make those tunnels, which allows water to flow more easily. Other mounds in a yard may be a satellite ant colony or a whole different group of ants. Larson said large mounds can be a sign of the fierce and biting fire ants. Those ants have been detected in Whitley and McCreary Counties.
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