Pest Ant Control
Ant pest control problems in the United States is a very common pest problem. Ant control can be difficult as they often have large colonies. All Ants are classified as pests and they include the pavement ant, yellow crazy ant, sugar ants, the Pharaoh ant, Carpenter ants, Odorous house ants, Red imported fire ant, and European fire ants. These are the ants that can be found in the United States.
Most of the do it yourself home control approaches can be ineffective as they mostly treat the ants that you are able to see. An ant control specialist from your area can determine treatments that will help eliminate the entire nest, Ant colonies can reach sizes that exceed 500,000.
There are three primary kinds of ants within a colony: The queen ant, the female workers, and males. Both the queen and the males have wings, while the workers don’t. The queen is the only ant that can lay eggs. Once the queen grows to adulthood, she spends the rest of her life laying eggs! Depending on the species, a colony may have one queen or many queens. When a colony of ants separate, this is called a swarm. All ant colonies will swarm usually once a year.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are large (.25 to 1 in) ants that are indigenous to many parts of the united states. They prefer dead, damp wood in which to build nests. They do not consume it, however, they can cause a large amount of damage to your house as they build their nests. The most likely species to be infesting a house in the United States is the black carpenter ant. Carpenter ants can damage wood used in the construction of buildings. They can leave behind a sawdust-like material called frass that provides clues to their nesting location.
Red Imported Fire Ant
Red Imported Fire Ants are one of the more aggressive species. They can also have a painful sting. This is an ant that should be avoided. Their nests will usually be mounds of soil outdoors, landscape areas, or near a building’s foundation. They will often enter buildings through holes or cracks in walls and foundation and these nests should be avoided. Red Imported Fire Ants can adapt to many climates and conditions in and around their environment
Odorous House Ant
This species is a scavenger/predator ant that will eat most household foods. They are especially fond of foods that contain sugar. Indoors they will colonize near heat sources or in your insulation. Outdoors they tend to colonize under rocks and exposed soil. They appear, however, to form colonies almost anywhere, in a variety of conditions. Colonies range in size from 100-10,000 and house several queens (as many as 200, in some instances). They are non-aggressive. While queens can lay as many as 20-30 eggs in single day.