Ant Facts and Tips for Ant Control

Discover the ins and outs of the ant world. Learn their behaviors, life cycle, and ant control tips.Ants are one of the most easily identified pests around the world, yet ant control has many challenges. Learn about the life of an ant and the way to keep your home ant-free!

About Ants 

Ant control is important, as ants are one of the most common insects found all around the world, whether you’re inside your home, outside in the backyard, or at the park, you’re likely to encounter an ant. With over 12,000 species in the world, it is estimated that there are 20 quadrillion ants, that is 2.5 million ants for every human. Ants are commonly identified by their long body, legs, and antennae and are many different colors such as red, black, brown, and yellow. Some even have wings, which are either queen ants or drones, whose job is to mate with the queen. Ants are commonly found in every continent except Antarctica, which means that no one is exempt from having to tend to ant control in their home or business.

Ants communicate with each other by secreting pheromones, and scent chemicals, that alert others of any danger or lead them to any promising food source. They feed on nectar, seeds, fungus, or insects. When collecting these sources for their colony, they can come together as a group to move the object, and they can carry up to 50 times their weight.

Behavior of Ants

Ants are social insects that live in structured nest communities that are found underground, in ground-level mounds, or trees. A single colony can contain hundreds of thousands of ants alone, and all work together from the beginning of their life cycle to the end. Their life-cycle consists of:

• Egg - The queen will lay hundreds of eggs, that are tiny, white, or translucent, and get taken care of by worker ants.
• Larva - Once the egg hatches, it is a larva that is legless and worm-like in appearance. They are dependent on adult workers to feed them, and they grow rapidly and will molt several times. 
• Pupa - The pupal stage is the most developmental, as this is where they transform into a full adult. Once the larva reaches a certain size, it wraps itself in a silk-like cocoon and undergoes metamorphosis.
• Adult - Once metamorphosis is complete, the now adult ant emerges a pale and soft body, but once it comes in contact with air, it will darken and harden. 

 Once the full life cycle is complete, it is then that they go into different jobs or castes:

• Queen - The queen's only role is to reproduce! They are responsible for ensuring that the colony grows and survives and can lay thousands of eggs in a day. She will also release hormones that regulate the behavior and development of the colony members. 
• Drones - Drone ants are male ants whose only task is to mate with the queen to continue reproducing. They die shortly after mating. 
• Workers - Worker ants are primarily female ants that never reproduce and will forage for food, care for the queen's offspring, work on the nest, and protect the ant community. 

Myths about Ants

With ants being the most common pest you encounter, there are a lot of shared myths about them.

• Sugar ants - When finding an ant in the kitchen around any sweet fruits or treats, they are referred to as sugar ants. They are attracted to the carbohydrates in sweets, which provide them with energy. The name “sugar ant” is a nickname for common foraging ant species, such as odorous house ants and pavement ants. 
• Ants are harmful - There are specific species of ants that can do damage around your home, like carpenter ants that like to make holes into wood and will be found inside your home or on a new deck. Ants help our ecosystem with pollination, seed dispersal, and soil aeration that helps root growth.
• Ants can predict earthquakes - Sometimes as a kid, you hear something and it sticks for the rest of your life, like hearing that ants can predict earthquakes. While ants' behavior will change so they can sustain themselves in the environment they live in, there is no actual scientific study to prove that ants will change their behavior because they know an earthquake is coming. 
• There is a king or queen in the colony - In a colony, all ants work together to help build, maintain, and protect the colony. While yes, there is a queen ant who is responsible for reproducing, no ant is directly responsible and they all have their roles to maintain living. 

Tips for Ant Control

Ants can be fun to watch and see how they move and sustain themselves as such small pests, but only while you’re outside. Recurring ant control is crucial to preventing unwanted ant activity. Cleanliness is crucial for ant control. Keeping your home free of food debris, storing food in airtight containers, and cleaning often will reduce conducive conditions for ants. sis. Maintaining your home exterior is just as important. Take time to complete regular exterior home maintenance to prevent ants, such as trimming trees and shrubs,  storing trash away from the home's foundation, and cleaning up yard debris. 

As a pest control company, we’ve taken the time to learn the ins and outs of the ant world and learn how to maintain ant control. Ants are a maintenance pest and sometimes can be difficult to keep under control if you’re trying to do it yourself. With our service, we design our treatments to target maintenance pests and guarantee our service. 

At Spidexx, we specialize in ant control and offer treatments catered to your home! Want to learn more about our ant control service? Call our office at (844)922-7732 or book online, and let us help you keep your home ant-free!