Allegeny Mound Ants

Subject: Allegheny Mound Ants
Geographic location of the bug : Lewis Center Ohio
Date: 07/18/2021
Time: 09:39 PM EDT
Your letter to the bugman: Found these cool ants while out picking blackberries today July 18th. I had no idea we have large mound forming ants here! Hope to watch this mound grow it was about a foot across.
How you want your letter signed: Jennifer Huffman

Allegeny Mound Ant

Dear Jennifer,
Daniel grew up just outside of Youngstown, and back in the 60s he remembers encountering many Ant Mounds in vacant lots. They would often get to over a foot tall and two feet across. With the building of many homes beginning in the 60s, many of those empty lots have been developed and there does not tend to be room for Allegeny Mound Ants in landscaped yards. According to BugGuide: “The nest architecture is distinctive — large (often >1m.), rounded, subconical, primarily earthen mounds. ” An entertaining article in the Columbus Dispatch documents exploring an ant mound with a borescope to view inside with a camera. Thanks for sending in your excellent images. Daniel will be in Ohio next week and he anticipates seeing lightning bugs and to picking blackberries.