There’s a lot boiling below those mounds of Thatcher Ants – The Suburban Times

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There’s a lot boiling below those mounds of Thatcher Ants

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Story by Pamela Sleezer, Joint Base Lewis-McChord Public Affairs Office.

Todd Zuchowski, Fish and Wildlife Branch Chief for Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Public Works – Environmental Division, holds up a stick covered in Thatcher Ants while discussing the insects’ positive impact on the local environment. Photo by Edzel Butac.

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. – Have you ever wondered about those massive mounds writhing with ants scattered across the grounds of Joint Base Lewis-McChord?

Surprisingly, those mounds of ants provide a valuable service to the areas they occupy. Thatching Ants build their impressive mounds out of decaying materials on the forest floor, providing soil aeration in the process and they are actually predators of other invasive insects.

“So, they’re actually not that bad to have around,” said Todd Zuchowski, Fish and Wildlife Branch Chief for JBLM’s Directorate of Public Works – Environmental Division.

This is just one of more than 100,000 mounds of Thatcher Ants that can be found across Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Photo by Edzel Butac.

Want to learn more about these interesting insects that have more than 100,000 mounds across JBLM? Check out this fun and informative video (Instagram) filled with facts – including how Thatcher Ants taste.

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  1. I love thatch ants. Years ago they started showing up around our house, yet they never come in the house. They keep our yard clear of carpenter ants and other pests. We now have several mounds and trails near by. I didn’t find out until years later my daughter would feed them sugar when she came home from school, which probably encouraged them to set up home here.

  2. I would trade our neighborhood population of odorous house ants for thatcher ants any day.
    Now I wonder if that could be done.
    Another research project.