PK-A05 · Ants
How to get rid of Pavement ants
Tetramorium immigrans (and related)
Pavement ants push little volcanoes of soil from sidewalk cracks and fight neighboring colonies in spring. They wander indoors for sweets. They are a slab and sidewalk species, not a carpenter-ant wood species. Baiting along the indoor trail and reducing food beats drilling random holes in a garage slab. If the mound is fluffy and the ants sting viciously in Georgia, think fire ants first.
How to identify Pavement ant
- Small, dark, grooved thorax (looks textured), two nodes, stingers present but usually a mild pinch.
- Soil craters in pavement cracks.
- Spring “wars” between colonies on sidewalks.
Signs of an infestation
- Kitchen foragers from under a slab-on-grade door.
- Tiny piles of soil on a driveway.
Biology and why they show up
Nest under stones and slabs. They forage widely. Indoor invasion often tracks a gap at a sliding door.
Health and property risk
Nuisance. Minor. Not a structural excavator of timber.
Proven control sequence
Work in this order. Skipping inspection or exclusion is why most “treatments” bounce back in a week.
- Bait indoor trails. Sugar baits often accepted. Place at the slab gap, not in the middle of the island.
- Door sweeps on slab doors. Exclusion is cheap.
- Do not flood a sidewalk with concentrate weekly. Runoff and non-targets. Baits plus sanitation.
Matching tools for these steps can be bought on Amazon. Buy the field kit.
Tools for pavement ants
Sugar liquid bait for the indoor foragers you can reach. The nest is often under a slab or along a sidewalk crack.
As an Amazon Associate, Pest Kill earns from qualifying purchases. The EPA label is the law for any pesticide. These links match the sequence on this page — they are not a shopping list instead of identification. Details: advertising disclosure. Browse the full tools catalog.
Labeled product
TERRO T300 liquid ant bait stations
For sweet-feeding household ants that take liquid bait back to the nest. Leave the trail alone while they feed. Not for carpenter ants, fire ants, or Pharaoh ants — wrong biology, wrong bait.
Prevention that actually sticks
- Wipe soda spills on patios.
- Seal the garage-to-kitchen door.
When to hire a licensed professional
Rarely, unless a food plant has slab nesting at scale.
United States and Tier 1 notes
Classic Northeast and Midwest sidewalk ant. Fire ants take the mound role in much of the South.
Common questions
Are the sidewalk wars dangerous?
They are ants fighting ants. Watch your step; it is not a medical event like fire ants.