Ants are difficult to deal with. When they invade your home, they often arrive in large numbers, searching for food or shelter. Getting rid of them is difficult, and many people are forced to battle them for months on end as they try and keep them out of their home.
There are thousands of different ant species, so it can be hard to know what type of ant infestation you are dealing with. In New Jersey and Florida, though, there are a few species that pop up relatively often.
Sugar Ants
As their name implies, sugar ants love any type of food that is sweet and sugary. They like the warm weather and their activity increases in the summer. Sugar ants have nests in holes, behind walls, or in the ground. They come out at night, but it isn’t unusual to see them during the day, either. They range in color from black to orange.
Pavement Ants
Pavement ants live in and around pavement. They invade when they need food, and just like sugar ants, they like to eat sweet things. However, greasy foods are also attractive to these pests. Pavement ants are unusual in that they fight one another to establish dominance. They continue fighting until one colony wins, and these incidences usually take place when it starts to warm up, after winter comes to a close.
Fire Ants
Like pavement ants, fire ants enjoy sweet, greasy and meaty food. They like spiders, insects, and even seeds. Most often, fire ants build their nests in the ground. These nests can be impressive in size, with colonies expanding to include hundreds of thousands of workers.
Fire ants are aggressive and will sting when they perceive a threat. If you have fire ants, it can be difficult to get rid of them. Not only are the colonies big, but they often have more than one queen. That allows the colony to continue to thrive, even if a large part of it has been killed. Fire ant stings are not pleasant, which is why it is important to talk with a pest control professional if you have a problem.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are big. They are normally black, although they can be dark brown in color as well. If you see them inside your home, you should work to get rid of them as soon as possible. Typically, the damage to the home is already present by the time the carpenter ants move into the wood. However, the carpenter ants make things worse, by destroying the wood in the structure of your home and actually creating nests there. Contacting a licensed pest control professional is the best way to ensure that you keep your home protected.
There are many different ant species in the world, but there are a few that people commonly see in the New Jersey and Florida areas. Depending on what you are dealing with, you can decide how best to rid yourself of an ant infestation. At Excel Termite and Pest Control, we are happy to provide you with a free inspection and ant control assessment that will give you the information you need to move forward.
