People share Doylestown with billions of ants. The ants mostly keep to themselves, building nests that are in natural areas that are separated from residences, offices and other buildings.
However, ants sometimes get uncomfortably close to people. Their nests may appear adjacent to the foundation of a structure, and frequently ants are discovered inside buildings.
Why do ants come indoors? Usually, they are seeking necessities such as food, water and shelter. People may inadvertently make it easy for ants to get inside by not taking certain precautions.
For instance, when tree limbs or bushes brush up against the roof or exterior walls of a building, this provides convenient access to the ants. The pests use the foliage to get onto the building. From there, it is simple to find a crack or crevice that allows them access.
Some species, such as carpenter ants, cause serious damage to the building. In other cases, people may be at greater risk for developing food poisoning or respiratory issues because of an ant infestation.
Because they pose threats to the structure and to the people that occupy it, ants have no good reason for being indoors. Unfortunately, getting rid of them is complicated.
When it is necessary to get ants out and ensure that they do not return, the only sensible remedy is to hire a licensed pest management professional.
WHAT DO ANTS LOOK LIKE?
The acrobat ant usually is black or brown, though it is possible to spot some individuals that are red. Despite the prickly hairs on their heads and their shiny bodies, acrobat ants are difficult to differentiate from other species. Their main distinguishing characteristic is their trick of lifting their abdomens up over their heads, which is how they got their name.
Black ants are shiny too, but they are generally black. At one-sixteenth of an inch, the adult worker is small. Their antennae have 12 segments that end in a club that has three segments.
Carpenter ants are among the easiest of the ant species to identify because of their large size. A worker measures about one-quarter of an inch long. Most of the workers are brown or black, but it is not unusual to see much more colorful examples.
Identifying the citronella ant is easy even for people who have not had the same extensive training that exterminators receive. These ants are yellow, and they smell like lemon verbena when they are crushed. During an infestation, people may notice this peculiar smell coming from behind walls or beneath floors.
The odorous ant is another species that is most frequently identified by its smell. A crushed individual smells like rotting coconut, and this scent can permeate a room when an infestation is underway. Otherwise, the appearance of these ants is much like other species with black or brown coloration and a maximum length of one-eighth of an inch.
Small and black, the pavement ant frequently is seen on driveways and sidewalks or living in the foundation of a building. They are brown or black, and viewing them under a microscope reveals several ridges marking the head and thorax. These ants have a stinger, but it is not a threat to people.
WHERE DO ANTS LIVE?
Each ant species has different nesting habitats. Black ants prefer to stay close to or underneath the ground with nests in decaying logs or pavement cracks while acrobat ants have a preference for nesting in trees.
Odorous ants like underground nests, but they will nest indoors if they can find a suitable wall void or cupboard. While pavement ants are most frequently found in underground places that are covered by pavement, it is not unusual to find these ants nesting indoors, particularly in foundations and wall voids.
Carpenter ants most frequently construct a large nest in soil before establishing satellite nests, some of which may be located within a man-made structure. Any building that has been damaged by a flood or water leak may have rotting wood that makes it particularly attractive to carpenter ants.
WHAT DO ANTS EAT?
Most ant species in Doylestown are opportunistic feeders. That is, a broad array of food appeals to them, and they might acquire meals from natural sources and from human sources.
Ants require two major categories of food. These are protein and sugar. Protein is frequently obtained from eating insects while sugar is acquired by eating honeydew or plant sap.
Finding food in residences and commercial buildings is easy for ants. People eat many foods that are loaded with protein and sugar, and ants eat any of these. Additionally, ants like foods that are oily or greasy, another characteristic that is found in many foods that people enjoy.
Bread and other baked goods, cookies, grains, peanut butter, meat, fruit and vegetables are only a few examples of human foods that ants are likely to infest.
DAMAGE CAUSED BY ANTS
Most experts consider the majority of ant species to be nuisances that do not cause damage to structures. The exception to this is the carpenter ant, which excavates in damaged wood to create a nesting place. When infestations are not quickly discovered and treated, the damage can become extensive.
ARE ANTS AGGRESSIVE?
Ants are small, and although most of them are capable of biting, stinging or both, these are rarely used on people. Aggression toward other ants is far more common.
DO ANTS CARRY DISEASE?
Worker ants forage for food wherever it may be found, including animal carcasses, sewers, drains and garbage cans. Foraging in unsanitary places causes the ants to pick up and redistribute a variety of bacteria and toxins. When these contaminants are left on food preparation surfaces or in food storage containers, the risk of people developing food poisoning raises to a dangerous level.
Moreover, ant activity inside buildings can contaminate air. The ants dig into various wooden components of the building, and the debris of this activity gets picked up by HVAC systems where it can cause respiratory irritation.
HOW TO DETECT ANTS
Signs of an ant issue include:
• Swarms of flying ants in the spring • Large groups of ants crawling on the exterior of a building • Ants found anywhere indoors
HOW TO PREVENT ANTS
To help prevent ant problems the following precautions should be taken:
• Use pest-proof storage containers • Clean kitchen and dining area surfaces more frequently • Cut back foliage to prevent contact with buildings • Fix water leaks and replace damaged wood
HOW WE TREAT FOR ANTS
Ants are the number one pest control issue and can prove virtually impossible for home and business owners to solve on their own. Ending an ant infestation typically requires proper ant identification, locating and destroying the nest or colony, as well as the use and application of specialized products.
As such, it is not advisable for property owners to attempt to eradicate an ant infestation without assistance from a professional pest control provider.
