An invasion...

In preparation for some friends coming to visit (sooo excited to see you Carolyn and Bobby!), I went into the guest bedroom to air it out and put clean sheets on the bed.

And discovered a patch of dead and dying winged ants and several strange piles, the likes of which I had never seen before:

These little piles were each presided over by two or three very small red ants. After carefully sweeping them up and examining the evidence, I was able to come to no scientific conclusions.

What the hell is this?? And why did they so carefully collect and pile it up?

So, I made up an explanation. Clearly, I am in the middle of an ant invasion. The colonies living in my next door neighbor's house (they are besieged and have been telling me horror stories since I moved in) were getting too full and they decided to expand their territory into my home. They sent an advanced party who set up supply depots (that or these tiny black dots that made up the piles are baby ant eggs?).

After finding and sweeping up several piles and many many many dead/dying ants, I feel temporarily confident I have stymied their nefarious plans. But I have the feeling the victory is only temporary.