Oh no, the ants are back in the kitchen again. Why won’t they just go away? Where are these ants coming from? These might be some of the phrases you are saying if there is an ant infestation in your home. Ants are complex creatures that work hard to build a strong colony, but why do they sometimes choose to start their colonies inside homes, where nutrients are for the most part different from what they find in nature? The answer is simple, they like the food sources your home offers better.
What are ants?
Ants are insects that are closely related to wasps and bees. They have six legs, antennae, a head, abdomen and thorax. There is a three tiered caste system in the colony. The queen, males and then the workers. The sole purpose of the queen is to lay eggs and increase the population. Queens can live for up to 30 years but after she dies, the entire colony will die out soon after. The males mate with the queen and the workers are the females that aren’t the queen and they gather food, make nests and care for the young. There are over 10,000 different species of ants in the world and there are four types of ants that are commonly found in Northern Virginia.
These ant species are the little black ant, carpenter ant, pavement ant and the odorous ant. There are also two invasive ant species in Virginia, which are the red imported fire ant and the Asian needle ant. Ants live in nests or in hollowed out logs or tree stumps. They are social insects and live in colonies where they will work together and gather food. Ants have four life cycle stages-egg, larva, pupa then adult. It takes eight to 10 weeks for ants to become adults.
What are signs of ants in the home?
Some signs you might have ants in your home are seeing the live ants themselves or seeing ant nests which are piles of dirt of soil. One place you might find a surplus of ants is in your kitchen. Ants are drawn to foods and sugary or syrupy substances.
How to get rid of ants in the house?
If you have ants in your home in Fredericksburg, Fairfax, Alexandria, Arlington or other parts of Northern Virginia, Summit Pest Control can help. Removing ants on your own can be a difficult and time consuming project and chances are they will return shortly after you treat them. At Summit, we used professional-grade products that aren’t for sale in the commercial market. The first step for the ant removal process is to have a pest control technician come out for an inspection and to give an estimate. During the inspection the technician will properly identify the species and come up with the best solution to get rid of the ants from your home. Then comes the treatment.
Some treatment plans happen only once or once a month or once every three months. The technician will advise what is proper for your situation. The chemicals we use are people, pets and eco-friendly. Summit Pest Control will take precautions during our applications to ensure the safety of you and your loved ones. We also take measures to ensure there is no adverse environmental impact from our materials Once ants are gone, doesn’t necessarily mean you should discontinue a treatment plan. Preventative treatments provide residual chemicals that will help continue to keep the ants at bay. This is especially important before the spring and summer time, when ants are more prevalent. After and between treatments, preventative measures should be taken to ensure the space is kept ant-free.
Ant prevention in Northern Virginia丨Summit Pest Control
While removing ants on your own might pose a challenge, keeping ants at bay and preventing them from returning is a much more manageable task. Although ants may be more prevalent in the warmer seasons, you can find them year round, especially inside your home during the chilly winter. Ants are drawn to food sources, primarily, sugar. Summit Pest Control can help with ant removal, control and prevention. Below are five natural remedies to prevent ants from getting into your home.
Natural remedies for ant removal and prevention
There are some natural at home remedies that can help to diminish existing populations or prevent ants from entering into your property. Here’s a few:
- Clean up food and drink spills
- Store ripened fruit in the fridge
- Clean out trash cans that are kept inside and outside
- Clean pet bowls regularly
- Inspect areas regularly for ants and clean them away
Interesting facts about ants:
- Ants are believed to be able to lift more than 20 times their body weight
- Ants will fight to the death
- Ants find their way back home while looking for food by following their pheromone trail
- Ants are lungless and breathe through holes all over their bodies
- Queen ants can have millions of offspring in their lifetime
When should I get pest control?
The best time to get pest control is as soon as you see pests in your home. You can try to do your own pest control, but it might end up making the situation worse. If you treat the problem as soon as it arises, it will be easier to manage it. If you wait for the situation to worsen, the ant population will grow and get more out of hand, causing it to be more challenging to treat and manage. When you attempt to treat the problem on your own, you might just be giving the ants a better chance to thrive and grow their population.
What else can Summit help with?
Summit does wildlife removal including trapping, abatement, exclusion, repairs. Summit Environmental Solutions does roof repairs, insulation, lead removal and general home remodeling and renovations. Lastly, Summit Waterproofing does basement waterproofing, drainage systems, sump pumps and crawl space repairs and remodeling. For more information about the services we offer, or to schedule a free and comprehensive estimate, contact us today.
