Lifestyle

We’ve all had to deal with ants in one way or another, which isn’t surprising when you consider that there are approximately 12,000 different species of ants in the world. Most ants live in colonies that contain one queen, whose only job is to lay eggs and expand the colony. Some queens can birth millions of new ants over the course of a summer, mainly consisting of worker ants. These worker ants spend their days working to gather food for the colony with amazing strength, being able lift 20 times their own weight.

Follow Scent

Ants also leave a scent behind when they find a good food source that their partners can follow, which is why they are often observed crawling in a line formation.

• Argentine Ants
• Carpenter Ants
• Odorous House Ants
• Pavement Ants
• Black Ants
• Sugar Ants
• Red Imported Fire Ants

Black Ants

Black ants are extremely small (1/16th of an inch). They are mostly found inside laundry rooms, kitchens or bathrooms. They reproduce quickly and increase at rapid rates. Black ants are tiny ants and have black bodies. They are extremely hard to control because of their size and their capability to rapidly reproduce. They are attracted to sugar, so you’ll most likely find these pests in the kitchen or areas where food has been eaten. If you find black ants in your house, it’s important to keep food out of your bed, as they will follow food trails anywhere.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants can cause large amounts of damage to the inside and outside of your house. Carpenter ants leave remnants of their existence, which make it easy to identify them inside of houses.

Sugar Ants

Sugar ants are attracted to food; especially sweet foods. These ants are extremely small and can travel in between cracks and small places. Sugar ants can infest areas where food is kept in short amounts of time. It’s important to put food in closed containers and address sugar ants immediately.

Fire Ants

Fire ants are red with black ends. They create large nests inside house walls and outside lawns and trees. Their nests can be extremely damaging to both your house and your property. Besides being a nuisance, fire ants have stingers and will sting if they feel threatened. Fire ants usually nest in the ground; their colonies can include up to 250,000 ants. They are one of the most aggressive species of ants and they can sting victims repeatedly. Fire ants are usually found on properties during the summer, as they like warmth and dry fields. Fire ants carry a painful sting that grows into white welts, while their mounds can also cause damage to crops.

Argentine Ants

Argentine ants are sugar and grease- eaters. They are larger than black ants and have brown-colored bodies. Although Argentine ants are not dangerous, they are pesky and can be a headache to eliminate.​

These ants can cause problems for us when they find their way into human food. Their waste can contaminate food and cause food illnesses. In addition, the carpenter ant creates smooth tunnels through wood and can damage the structural integrity of your home.

Don’t allow a group of the pint-size problem makers to infest your home. Contact Senske Pest Control before the problem gets out of hand. Contact us today at (877) 944-4007 or request an estimate online. Let our pest control program keep your home ant free.

We know that some think, “Why worry about ants? They’re so small, how much trouble can they actually cause?” The truth is that ants, if ignored, can grow colonies numbering in the millions. These colonies, besides being slightly annoying, can also cause potential health problems when ant waste is introduced to human food. Some species of ants can also tunnel through wood in houses and damage the structural integrity. In some cases, the ants themselves can also cause damage directly to humans through painful bites.

Dry Out Soil

There are some steps that you can take to prevent these pesky insects from invading your home. Although ant colonies can be disposed of through baits and other pest control methods as with any other insect infestation, the best ant control is through prevention. Wet ground is an ideal environment for ant tunnels, so standing water should be taken care of whenever possible to help eliminate colonies before they start.

Remove Yard Debris

Ants also like to create colonies in piles of wood and building materials. Keeping these piles away from the house can help to deter ants from looking for a way inside your home. Another good idea is trim back any tree branches or shrubs that are touching the home as ants like to use branches as natural bridge to cross in.

Seal Cracks

Ants, the ever opportunist, also will search for small cracks at the bottom of the home or outside pipes coming inside. Make sure that these cracks are sealed tightly, as even the smallest opening is a way in. Finally ants are in the home to find food.Their food of choice is sweets, so making sure all sweet foods are stored in air tight containers can persuade ants that your home doesn’t hold what they are looking for, and encourage them to find their sweets elsewhere.

Keeping your home free of ants can be difficult, frustrating, and time consuming. Save yourself the headache of ant control and instead contact us today at (877) 944-4007 or request an estimate online.

You come home from a long day at work, head into the kitchen to start a great meal for the family, and what do you find, a line of ants walking across the counter away from your pantry. Not many things can kill an appetite faster than finding out you’re sharing your food with a colony of ants.The question remains, when you find a colony invading your home what do you do?

Ant Control Tips

There are few tactics you can try to deal with these annoying invaders before you call in the professionals. The first and most important step to dealing with an ant infestation is to determine what type of ant you are dealing with. Not all ants are dealt with the same, so to save you the headache of trying something that isn’t going to work, determining the type of ant is a crucial first step.

Clean House

Ant control is also a matter of prevention. A deep cleaning of the house can help to disrupt the environments that ants thrive in, and encourage them to find residence elsewhere. Washing with bleach and sealing cracks at the bottom of the house, where ants use to gain entry, can also force a colony to move. Another preventative measure that can be used to displace ants is to track them back to their hill and flooding it with water.

Ant Bait Traps

Finally ants can also be controlled through the use of sweet and protein baits depending on the species. This adds to the importance of determining what species of ants you are dealing with.