Which Ants Are in Your Apartment? Six Common Species in Ho Chi Minh City

Quick answer. Most ant problems in Ho Chi Minh City apartments come from six kinds: ghost ants, pharaoh ants, crazy ants, fire ants, weaver ants and carpenter ants. Knowing which one you have matters, because they nest in different places and react differently to treatment. The small indoor species, ghost and pharaoh ants, split into new nests when sprayed, so they need bait placed near the nest. Fire ants sting and nest in soil and planters. Weaver ants live in trees and rarely come far indoors.

Six ants you are likely to meet

• Ghost ants: tiny (about 1.5 mm), dark head and pale, almost see-through body. Trails along kitchen counters, bathroom sinks and window frames; nests in wall voids and plant pots. Very common in apartments.
• Pharaoh ants: tiny, yellow to light brown. Nest deep in wall voids, behind skirting boards and inside appliances; often found in bathrooms and around heat. Spraying makes colonies split.
• Crazy ants: small, dark, with long legs; run fast and erratically rather than in a neat line. Common on balconies and ground floors, and move indoors after rain.
• Fire ants: red-brown, mixed sizes, painful sting that leaves a white blister. Nest in soil, lawns and large planters; come in on ground floors and balconies with pots.
• Weaver ants: large, orange-red, live in nests of leaves woven together in trees. Bite and spray acid if disturbed; found in gardens and on trees next to low-rise buildings.
• Carpenter ants: large, black or two-coloured; nest in damp or damaged wood and hollow spaces. Seen mostly at night.

What the species tells you

• Tiny ants in the kitchen or bathroom (ghost, pharaoh): do not spray the trail. Use bait near where they come from and remove water and food; the colony carries bait back to the nest.
• Ants from planters and the balcony (crazy, fire): check pots and drainage; lift pots off the floor; fire ants on balconies with children should be treated rather than left.
• Large ants from a tree or window frame (weaver, carpenter): trim branches touching the building; look for damp or rotting wood near where carpenter ants appear.

Signs worth a closer look

• Ants coming out of electrical sockets, switch plates or appliances.
• Trails in several rooms at once, or on several floors.
• Winged ants coming out of a wall or floor: see our note on winged ants, and check they are not termites.

When to call us

If the ants keep returning after a few weeks of removing food and water, or you find fire ants, our ant control service treats the routes with residual spray and places bait near the nest, on monthly visits. For the apartment as a whole, see pest control for apartments.

Common questions

Why do the ants come back after I spray?

With ghost and pharaoh ants, the spray kills only the workers you see, and the colony splits into more nests.

Are these ants dangerous?

Fire ants and weaver ants sting or bite; the rest are a nuisance and a hygiene problem around food.