Hardy, industrious, and unbelievably strong, what we know about ants can't fail but impress us. These little creatures live their lives to the benefit of their fellow colony members, willing to sacrifice everything for the betterment of others. As admirable as ants are, a hundred thousand of them setting up camp in your home, opening an all-you-can-eat buffet in your pantry, or turning your backyard into a replica of a WWI battlefield is a nightmare to make most homeowners wake up covered in a cold sweat.
Let's take a look at what types of ants you're likely to encounter around Aiken, reasons they might find your property attractive, a few effective ant prevention tips, and what a professional pest control in Aiken like Aiken Pest Control can do to help you get rid of ant infestation.
Quick Identification Guide For Aiken Ants
Ants are insects related to bees and wasps, with bodies that are split into three segments and usually colored in reddish to dark brown tones. They live in intricately designed colonies with rigidly separated casts, each responsible for a specific part of the colony's life-soldiers, workers, queens, and reproductives.
Ants feed on plants, nectar, and honeydew and fill an important part of the ecosystem around them, helping to decompose plants and dead animals and aerating the soil. There are over 12000 species of ants in the world, but in our area, you're likely to encounter the following eight species:
- Pavement ants
- Pharaoh ants
- Crazy ants
- Acrobat ants
- Carpenter ants
- Citronella ants
- Odorous house ants
- Argentine ants
Of all these species, only carpenter ants are likely to inflict damage on anything besides the sweets and sugars in your pantry. Carpenter ants are often confused for termites because while they don't feed on cellulose as termites do, their tunneling through wooden parts of your home can be almost as damaging.
For a carpenter's ant pest control to be effective, it's important to stop the damage they're inflicting on your home as soon as possible. In most cases, that will involve professional ant control solutions.
Does Ants In My Home Mean It's Dirty?
Ants in Aiken march into your home looking for food, water, and a comfortable, temperature-controlled environment. They're not particularly interested in your housekeeping skills, but a drop of coke from the can will turn their heads from a ways away. Many ant species also crave fats and proteins and will be very motivated to find their way into your home and carry when they can lay their paws on back to the nest.
Natural Ant Prevention Tips For Aiken Homes
To make your house unattractive to ants, split your organic ant control efforts into two equally important directions; remove anything that might make ants interested in your home and make access to the interior of it as complicated as possible.
- Clean up the spills and drips immediately
- Check plumbing for leaks and drips
- Store human and pet food in securely sealed containers
- Keep firewood stored away from your home's walls
- Keep vegetation trimmed short in the vicinity of your house
- Seal cracks and crevices in your house's walls to keep ants outside
The key to effective home pest control for ants in Aiken is catching the infestation early and dealing with it before the number of insects gets out of control.
Contact Us To Completely Eliminate An Ant Infestation
An experienced ant control specialist will be able to quickly identify the species of ants invading your home, clear out the nest, including adult ants and their eggs, and advise you on using green ant control solutions to prevent an ant infestation from re-occurring.
If you are dealing with an ant infestation, reach out today to get started and learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in Aiken.