The Acorn Ant is a tiny ant that nests inside hollow acorns, nutshells, and small wood cavities in forests. Entire colonies with queen and brood fit inside a single acorn cap. It is a model organism in studies of collective decision-making — when a nest is destroyed, scouts evaluate potential new sites and lead the colony to the best option through a quorum-based process.
Best time to see a Acorn Ant
The best time to see a Acorn Ant is April–June, when about 62% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 1,317 research-grade iNaturalist observations.
Not certain it is a Acorn Ant? What bug is this? walks through what to check first and the lookalikes that catch people out.
Recent Acorn Ant sightings near you
Live, research-grade observations from iNaturalist. Allow location to center the map on you.
Spotted an Acorn Ant?
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