Ant Control St George
Ant Control St George
Types of Ants in Utah
In Utah there are multiple species of ants including Harvester Ants, Pharaoh Ants, Carpenter Ants, and Odorous ants to name a few. Ants typically aren’t dangerous but can be a nuisance when entering a home searching for food.
Classes of Ants
Ant Colonies follow a class system. Understanding the different functions of the any colonists, makes it easier to know how to treat for ants. The exact structure will be a little bit different depending on the type of ant, but the follow classes are found in most ant colonies.
Ant Queen ants are responsible for reproduction. There may be multiple queens in each colony.
Soldier Ants, which are usually larger than the other ants in the colony, guard the nest.
Worker ants are responsible for foraging for food and feeding the queen.
Scout Ants search out food sources and leave a trail of food for the worker ants to follow.
Why are ants pests?
Ants like to swarm
Ants eat seeds, grease, sugars etc. Scout Ants leave the colony in search of food and water sources. They leave a pheromone trail so that they can easily make their way back to the colony. Once a food source is found they follow the trail back and alert the workers. The workers then follow the trail to the food source. Ants follow the pheromone trail as closely as possible since it enables them to move quickly and efficiently toward their target.
Seeing a lone ant in your house could be an indicator that it is a scout leaving a trail. If you have available sources of food, that one ant could turn into hundreds very quickly.
Ants can Sting or bite
The bug kingdom is a dangerous place and even the tiniest of ants is equipped to defend itself. Most kinds of ants can cause pain if they are aggravated.
Fire ants, for example, are red-colored ants that have a stinger that can leave painful welts in skin. Larger ants have strong mandibles that they can use to pinch.
ANts can Carry Diseases
While the majority of ants don’t carry parasites, there is one that lives in Southern Utah that does. The Pharaoh Ant species, which are very small in size and yellowish in color, are known for carrying parasites that can be passed to humans. They like to inhabit hospitals, so it is important to have proper traps in place to keep them away from the patients.
ANts can destroy property
There are some kinds of ants that can be very destructive to property, both to buildings and to the terrain. Carpenter ants get their name from their method of building their colonies in old wood. Having carpenter ants on your property is extremely dangerous to the integrity of your home. If you see large black ants on your property around your home, another building, or wood pile, it is possible that you have carpenter ants and will want Ant Control St George services.
Argentine ants are an example of an ant species that is bad for the land. These ants like to harvest a substance known as honeydew from plant damaging bugs like aphids. Argentine ants will farm aphids and even go so far as to protect them from their natural predators. They have been known to move their herds of aphids into gardens since they make ideal areas to raise and protect them. These ants are also extremely aggressive toward other ant species and insects, and will attack and kill the native creatures to establish their own colony.
Ant Control St George Methods
Ant’s come in all different shapes and sizes. You may have giant fire ants or teeny tiny sugar ants. Ants love moisture and easy food sources so eliminating water and food sources is key. Ants will stop foraging in an area if they can’t find food.
Dealing with these pests can be difficult since regular insecticides can make your problem worse. Killing ants with insecticide may lead to more ants invading a particular area because their pheromone trail is disrupted. Remember that the ants in your home aren’t the source of the problem, they are the symptom. The only way to get rid of an ant colony is to get rid of the queen. The best way to get rid of ants is to use pesticides that kill the queen, eventually destroying the colony. If you don’t get rid of the queen the ants will mostly likely keep coming.
Ways to keep ants out of homes include barrier treatments, treating nests directly, the use of baits and non-repellent insecticides, and exclusion/increased sanitation methods.
If you have ants of any type in your home or on your property we invite you to give Salisbury Pest Solutions-the ant control St George experts a call. We can help you identify the ants in question and discuss the different methods available that can help you remove the problem. Let us help you put the pests to rest..
