Your California home may have been getting more and more ants lately. This is because these bugs have become a big problem all over California all of a sudden. Some people might not be scared by it, but it would be terrifying to others. So why are you worried about a possible pest problem? This article will talk about the different kinds of ants that can be found in California and what to do if you have an ant problem.
How could ants hurt your house?
What damage could ants do to your house? is one of the things people ask us most often. In a few words, a lot.
First, ants can cause damage to your things. They can bite through anything, even metal, glass, and wood, which is why they are so popular. Depending on the species, the damage they can do to your fence, deck, or other wooden buildings on your property will be different. Ants can also make your food dirty in different ways. This is because they will definitely pass trash and other dirty places on the way to your house. This is dangerous because it lets bugs and other harmful things get into your food. Last but not least, ants may always be a bother. Surprisingly, these pests have a strong sense of smell that helps them find extra food. If you have an ant problem, you should be ready to share your home with other pests that eat ants, like cockroaches, spiders, rats, and more.
Ants That Frequent Homes
Ants like to live in California because of how nice and green it is there. This is true, and it’s also why ants will want to come into your home in search of food, water, and a place to stay. These are the types of ants that are most likely to come into your home:
Argentine Ants
Argentine ants are a regular bother in the Golden State. They are not much longer than 1/8 of an inch. Their smooth bodies come in different shades of brown. Argentine ant nests have a lot of worker ants. They hide their nests underground, under rocks, logs, or other things that block the view. To get settled, they look for places to hide, like furniture drawers, cracks in walls, or other places that are hard to see. If you crush one of these bugs, it will make a musty smell that can help you find them in your house. Argentine ants eat almost anything that falls to the ground because they like meat, sweet foods, and other insects. If you want to get rid of Argentine ants, get rid of the grass and plants around your house, seal up any holes, and keep all sweet things in airtight cases.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are some of the most troublesome ants in California. The length of these bugs ranges from 3/8 to 1/2 of an inch, and they are either black or dark brown. Carpenter ants make holes in wood to use as breeding material. If you don’t get rid of them, they can do a lot of damage to your property. If given the chance, carpenter ants will build their houses in healthy trees. If not, they will go outside and choose a dead tree or stump. Once they are in your house, they can sit wherever they want.
Carpenter ants can damage the inside of a building just as much as termites can if they are not stopped. Boric acid can be used to kill insects and seal any holes, while dish soap and scented oils can be used to get rid of smell trails.
Grease Ants
Grease ants, which are small insects, are sometimes called thief ants. About 1/625 of an inch is how big they are. They got their name from the fact that they stole food from other ants’ houses and took it back to their own. Most thief ants don’t have waists and are yellow or pale brown in color. The color of their bellies is darker than the rest of their bodies. A small stinger can be seen at the very end of their bellies. One thief ant colony can have up to 300,000 people living in it. Several queens can live together in the same colony. Every day, each queen is able to lay up to forty eggs. After two weeks, the eggs turn into larvae. Before the larvae can look for food as adults, they have to go through a number of stages. People often think this species is a pharaoh ant because of its size and how hard it works to find food. It is necessary to look into all places where stealing ants have been found recently, including places near other ant nests, set up bait stations to find the source of the colony, and then kill the colony. After you find the nest, you can take the next step.
Still Having Ant Problems?
If you’ve tried to get rid of the ants yourself and failed, you might want to use our services. Since they have been working in California for more than 60 years, we are sure that our exterminators will be able to handle any problem you may have.