Ants often enter buildings seeking food, water, warmth, shelter, or nesting sites. Regularly following ants’ trails, cleaning up spills and crumbs, and sealing cracks and crevices can help prevent them from entering.
Professional ant pest control includes using industrial-grade baits based on sweets or proteins, identifying the ants’ entrance points, and sealing them off. For more information, go to https://killianpestcontrol.com/.
Moisture and Standing Water
Moisture is a key factor in ant infestations, especially for carpenter and Pharaoh ants. These ants thrive in damp environments and will move into houses looking for a place to live and food sources. Standing water also attracts other pests like mosquitoes and promotes mildew and mold in your yard.
You can help prevent ant infestations by addressing moisture issues and removing food sources from around your house. Leaking spigots, pooled water from air conditioning runoff, and wet or rotting wood are all major attractants for ants. Addressing these problems as soon as possible will minimize the risk of a full-blown infestation.
Other preventive measures include keeping countertops and other kitchen areas clean to remove food crumbs, storing foods in sealed containers, and disposing of garbage regularly. You should also clean drains regularly to remove ant scouts and other pests that may be attracted by stagnant water.
Your pets can unwittingly bring ants and other pests into your home by leaving out food or water bowls on the floor. Be sure to store dry pet food in plastic containers instead of the paper bags they come in and keep dog/cat doors closed.
Another preventive measure is to seal cracks in walls, gaps around windows, and fissures in foundations to limit the number of entrance points for ants. You can use caulking to seal these areas, or choose an organic option such as diatomaceous earth that is safe for children and pets.
Some natural, homemade ant repellants are also effective. Ground black pepper, cinnamon, neem oil, lemon oil, and thyme oil can all be used to deter ants. A combination of these can be sprinkled along entry points to your home to repel them from entering. These alternatives are especially useful if you are looking for a non-toxic ant control product.
Food Sources
Ants are opportunistic omnivores, which means they’ll happily eat just about anything they find. They’re particularly fond of sweet foods, but also eat meats and other insects to provide protein for their young. As a result, ants can be destructive to local food supplies if they gain access to homes and restaurants.
In nature, ants are a valuable part of the ecosystem. They scavenge, break down and eliminate animal carcasses and decomposition materials, as well as pollinate plants and provide predation services on caterpillars. However, they can cause damage to human structures if they gain entry through openings like cracks and gaps around the home. In addition, ants can disrupt local wildlife when they consume the larvae of other insect species and steal their food, including the seeds of native plants (Wetterer 2008).
Whether or not ants are considered a pest, their voracious appetite and constant foraging can lead to problems in a household. Ants often enter homes and other buildings in search of food, water or a safe place to nest.
The simplest way to limit an ant infestation is by eliminating their food sources. Seal any loose food items and wipe up spills, crumbs and other messes on a regular basis to keep them at bay. Inspect and clean eaves, door frames and window sills to remove crevices that could be an entry point for ants.
Outdoors, spraying a mixture of peppermint, citrus or tea tree oil can be an effective alternative ant repellent. Simply dilute the oils with water and apply to ant trails, entry points or problem areas to create an odor barrier that will discourage them.
Another natural solution is to use ant bait. You can purchase granules made of coffee or corn meal at most hardware stores. The ants carry these baits back to their colonies and share them with other ants, which will ultimately kill them.
Getting rid of ants and keeping them out is not a simple task, but there are many natural, safe and effective ways to do so. If you’re struggling to control ants at your property or business, contact a professional. An Orkin Pro can help you develop an ant treatment plan that’s right for your unique situation.
Nesting Sites
One of the main benefits that ants provide is to help control pest insect populations. The scavenging tendencies of these insects allow them to remove dead insect parts from the environment as well as clean up trash and debris. In agroecosystems, they can also help with crop pollination by disrupting the reproductive success of certain insect pests. However, if ant populations are allowed to increase and become a nuisance around homes and businesses, they can damage property as well as contaminate food sources.
Ants will nest in any crack, crevice or gap where they can gain access to a food source. They may enter a home by crawling over dirt, waste materials or other objects and by using their wings to fly when they see a food source nearby. Once inside, ants will lay down a chemical trail for other members of the colony to follow. Once the trails are followed to a source, ants will work in tandem with each other to break apart the food and carry it back to the nest.
In addition to food contamination, ants can cause a number of other problems. These include allergens and stings, which can be a significant health concern for people with sensitive skin and respiratory systems. Invasive species like fire ants can displace native ant populations, altering the local ecosystem and posing a threat to humans, pets and other wildlife.
A variety of treatments are available to prevent ant infestations, including natural repellents and baits. The most effective ant pest control involves targeted applications of products that are designed to penetrate and affect the entire colony, rather than just individual foraging ants. These treatments are most effective when applied regularly, such as every 1-2 weeks. They should also be reapplied after heavy rain, as water can wash away some treatments.
Preventing ant invasions starts with sealing all cracks and gaps where ants can get into the home. This includes caulking and weather stripping, with special focus on areas where ants are most active, such as around doors, windows and pipes. Cleaning up spilled food and storing it in airtight containers will discourage ant foraging, as will removing any items that may be appealing to them, such as plant material. Keeping gutters free of twigs and other debris that can provide places for foraging ants to hide will also reduce the likelihood of them entering the home.
Exclusion
Several species of ants nest and forage in the residential environment, where they can cause significant damage. In addition to contaminating food, ants can also destroy wooden structures such as decks and porches and gnaw through wires in electrical outlets and light fixtures. Using a combination of exclusion, sanitation and baiting, homeowners can reduce the number of ants invading their homes. Natural repellents such as cinnamon and coffee grounds may help deter ants, and vinegar or lemon juice may be used to clean surfaces to disrupt pheromone trails. Sealing cracks, crevices and window sills will prevent ant access. Food should be stored in airtight containers, and crumbs and pet food should be picked up regularly.
Homeowners can also use a commercial pest control service to exterminate ant colonies. Commercial products, such as granules and liquid sprays, are effective, especially if the ants are not resistant to the product. The use of caulk can be helpful, particularly around doors, windows and pipes. Screening, trash receptacles and other barriers can also be effective.
Although ants can be useful in controlling some pests, they may interfere with beneficial insects in other ways. In one study, the presence of ants reduced the abundance of natural enemies of the citrus tree fruit fly (Diptera aberidis). This was probably because the specialist predators avoided mutualistic relationships with ants. However, other studies have found that the presence of ants can actually enhance biological control by decreasing the number of generalist predators [68].
The best way to exterminate ants in homes is with pre-filled ant bait stations set outdoors and in areas where the ants are present. This is especially important if children and pets are present, since sprays and dusts can be hazardous to them. Baits can include sweets, jelly, bits of meat and other protein sources, as well as boric acid powder, which is not toxic to children or pets if mixed with water. For outdoor use, diatomaceous earth or borax can be spread on the ground or in ant mounds to kill ants and their larvae. It is important to purchase food-grade diatomaceous earth, not the type used for pool maintenance.