Are The Ants In Phoenix Particularly Tricky To Get Rid Of?

The Types Of Ants You Could Encounter In Phoenix

We have quite a selection of ant pests in Phoenix, which is why ant control is often tricky. Most pest ants are black or close to black. If you don't know what kind of ants you're battling, you'll have difficulty stopping them. You need to know what they eat, where they make their nests, and how to address them using this knowledge. The good news is there are only three types of ants, and you can distinguish them from each other.

General Ants: While the list of ants is long, they all generally present the same issue when they get into Phoenix homes. Ants spread microorganisms from trash and other dirty places to surfaces, dishes, silverware, and food packages. These invisible organisms are what cause stomach illness. When you find ants in your home, it is wise to take action and properly address those ants.

Carpenter Ants: Most ants present a minor health concern, but carpenter ants are double trouble. While they can get into your food and contaminate surfaces, their real threat has to do with how they nest. Certain species, such as black carpenter ants, create galleries inside wood to establish nests. They prefer rotten wood but they can spread to sound timbers within Phoenix homes. It is not good to have black carpenter ants in your home.

Southern Fire Ants: It is not good to have ants in your home making you sick with stomach ailments, but fire ants are worse. As you are likely aware, fire ants sting. For most people, the sting from fire ants is just a nuisance, but there are circumstances where these ants present more of a threat, particularly when they come indoors. They can sting babies and bedridden seniors, and present a risk to those who are allergic to stinging insect venom.      

The first step in dealing with ant control in Phoenix is assessing the threat. An ant species that poses a greater threat is best addressed with professional pest control service because of how tricky they are to control.

Why Ants Tend To Enter Homes

Most often, the reason ants get into homes is that they find a food source on the interior. When scout ants return from a food source, they lay down pheromones. These pheromones are how ants communicate with each other. Trail pheromones help ants find food. As each worker finds food, it adds to the trail, and the scent grows. A strong scent will have ants mobilizing an army to get into your home. If you're like most Phoenix residents, you'll suck those ants up, clean the area where you found them, and call it a day. You may also apply a control product to eliminate the ants in your home, but these ant control methods only attack the symptom of your ant control problem, not the source. Ants will keep coming into your home if you don't address the entry points they're using. But this is easier said than done.  

The primary reason why ants are tricky to control is that they get into Phoenix homes by way of the smallest entry points. Many ant species have workers that are 1/16 of an inch long. They can enter your home through cracks and gaps you can't even see. One of the reasons Phoenix homeowners get year-round pest control is to have regular outdoor ant control applied—which includes a liquid crack and crevice barrier treatment. The products used by professionals are known to work and are applied in correct quantities and frequently enough to remain effective. Routine exterior treatments keep ants from finding tiny entry points you can't see. But, of course, there are several entry points you can see. You have to address these. Here are a few examples:

• Open spaces around utility pipes and conduits. Ants are attracted to moisture points. They'll get into homes by way of gaps around pipes and then use those pipes as a superhighway to get in under your kitchen and bathroom sinks. Use a caulking gun or expanding foam to seal these gaps both outside and indoors.

• Gaps around exterior doors are common entry points for ants. If you stand outside your home at night and see light leaking out, take steps to seal those gaps. Replace weatherstripping and door sweeps. Align double doors. Repair damaged screens, and seal gaps around screen frames.

• Rotted wood holes. Many ants are attracted to moist organic matter and wood is highly attractive. Moisture-damaged wood will draw many pest ants, particularly carpenter ants. Along with repairing wood and filling in rotted wood holes with expanding foam, ensure your gutters are doing their job.

• Window frames can have gaps that allow tiny ants to get inside, particularly when tree branches and vegetation touch your exterior. Use a caulking gun to seal around your window frames outdoors and indoors, and trim vegetation away from your exterior.

You may keep ants out of your home if you work hard to seal these trouble spots. Sometimes, no pest control materials are needed when exclusion work like this is combined with yard work, such as raking leaves and removing dead branches. It is worth the effort to seal entry points.

Getting Rid Of Ants In Your Yard And Home

Another reason ants are so tricky to control is that ant control solutions applied by untrained individuals can fail in many ways. We wish there were one product and one method to apply the product, but this is not the case. Professionals use their training and experience to identify the type of ants, track routes, locate nesting sites, select products that work to control the pest ants found, apply the products effectively, and evaluate the success of treatment programs. It isn't as easy as sprinkling some bait. Here are a few pitfalls to consider:

• All ants do not eat all baits. They have preferences.
• Too much bait can cause ants to stop taking bait they would otherwise eat.
• Too little bait can fall short of controlling a large colony. You must place the bait in several locations to achieve control.
• Bait application is impacted by weather conditions.
• Bait application is impacted by household cleaners.
• Mound treatments can eliminate colonies but only for certain species.
• Mound treatments may not go deep enough to eliminate a colony.

These are just some of the many challenges. We could write pages on the topic. Our goal with this article is to describe how tricky it is to control ants and how ineffective ant control can fail to guard your health and property against certain ant pests.