Most of us know our fair share about ants. We can identify a couple of species, and we certainly know which ones have painful bites. We know that they live in colonies and that they are capable of transferring crumbs of food several times their own body weight. Most of us even recognize when there’s a serious issue, and know when there’s an ant control problem (hint, that’s normally when there are hundreds inside your home regularly).

One thing you’re unlikely to know much about is the sleeping patterns of ants. Scientists didn’t either – until very recently. Recent studies have discovered the fascinating sleeping habits of ants. Let’s look further into the different sleeping patterns throughout an ant colony, and why it makes ant control inside your home such a challenge. 

The Sleeping Patterns of Ants

Everybody knows that queen ants are at the top of the ant hierarchy. Tasked with laying eggs, the queen is protected at all costs and fed before every other ant in the colony. But do her royal rights extend to sleeping patterns too? Well, it turns out they do.

Incredibly, the queen ant can sleep for up to 9 hours a day. This is an incredible finding and shows that the queen has a much more relaxed lifestyle than previously estimated. She can have long and deep sleeps, while the poor worker ants are forced to work round the clock. Perhaps it’s just in the name.

Worker ants, contrarily, sleep half as much as the queen. They make up their snoozing hours with a series of short power-naps. We say a series of naps, but it’s believed that they have around 250 naps a day. And they only last for just over a minute each time. It’s amazing that manage to work with as much energy as they do. It would also explain why most species of worker ants only live between 4-12 months. Contrarily, queen ants will live for around 6 years on average. Some species of queen ants can live for over 30 years!

A Never-Ending Battle

Once you’ve discovered ants inside your home, it can feel like an impossible battle removing them. No matter how many times you try to remove them by yourself, it seems that more and more apparent. Many people underestimate the size of ant colonies to begin with.

However, it’s also important to know that only 20% of worker ants will be asleep at any one time. This means that the remaining 80% of the colony are prepared to fend off any threats or predators to protect their queen. This also means that the majority of the worker ants are still carrying out tasks. They’re still busy foraging for food, transporting it to the queen, and upkeeping the colony. 

When you find ants in your home it can feel like they’re working around the clock. That’s because they are. Since they only nap for up to a minute at a time, they’re constantly busy and looking for food inside your home. Even when some of them do find time to stop and rest, it’s only for a minute at a time.

Let Truly Nolen Handle Your Ant Problem

Since 1938 we’ve worked hard to develop effective ant control strategies. Our experienced Truly Nolen technicians have seen it all before. We know all about the behaviours of ants and their daily patterns. Our staff is highly trained in first of all locating any ant colony and then removing it completely. Call us today to find out how we can help with your pest control problem.