When you apply ant control in your house, you may have some success. For certain ants, it is fine to only have partial control of any problems. In many cases, ants don’t present a serious health hazard or threat to property. But if you need complete control, it is likely to be tricky. For certain ants, we recommend professional ant pest control in Phoenix. Join us as we look at common ant pests in Phoenix, which ants are a threat, why ant control is often tricky, and how to get complete control of ants. If you want to have greater success with your efforts to control ants, you’ll find some great information here. If you don’t want to have to deal with ants, remember that you can always reach out to Green Home Pest Control for assistance with addressing all your ant problems.
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.
Total Ant Control For Phoenix Residents with Green Home Pest Control
Effective ant control is nice when dealing with all pest ants. Few people would say, “Man, I’m glad those ants are invading my home by the thousands.” But total ant control is a must when addressing carpenter ants or fire ants. Given how tricky ants are to control, why not contact Green Home Pest Control for help with your ant infestation? We provide layers of protection for your exterior.
- Ant control requires ongoing service. We return bimonthly to make sure your home stays ant-free.
- We apply synthetic or biological organic products to address ant hills and eliminate colonies around your home. Targeted ant control reduces ant populations in your yard and the number of ants looking to find tiny entry points in your exterior.
- We address a primary food source ants look for on your property—namely bugs. Your technician will apply granular products to control general pests on your property, which has the added benefit of keeping these pests out of your home.
- We apply a liquid barrier treatment to your exterior. These routine treatments make it difficult for ants to live near your home and stop them as they attempt to get into your home.
- If ants ever find a way into your home (which is unlikely), you have access to a technician who knows your home, your family, and your pest pressures. Those ants aren’t going to bother you for long.
When you have an ongoing and customized pest control service plan, you get exactly what you want, and you say goodbye to ants, forever. Does that sound like a plan? If so, reach out to us today to get started with your new ant-free life. The service team at Green Home Pest Control looks forward to serving you.