Do You Have Ants At Home?

As the name suggest, Sugar Ants is a common household pest complaint. Due to its preference in feeding on sweet substance, such as sugar, honey or popular food choices such as bread, cakes or fatty diet, it is no wonder; almost every home would have to deal with persistent and daily sugar ants’ problem. Do you have ants at home?

Essential facts about ants that we need to know

Ants are attracted to many items we can find in a home, including moist and water, food crumbs and debris, sweet and sugar and cosy environment to hide and nest. Most natural ants control remedies such as using spices, fragrances, chalk or cleaning solutions to deter ants are either ineffective (as it serves as a deterrent and relocation of pests) or are harmful and toxic to the safety among families. In addition, because ants are hard to differentiate from termites, ants treatment might seen as ineffective or potentially trigger a termite infestation later on. Hence, it is best to seek professional advice from a pest control specialist to detect and identify pest infestation accurately.

How to contain the spread of an ant infestation?

As ants reproduce and nest in colonies, there are some simple tips you can adopt to help contain the spread of infestation

• Try to consume in the kitchen area only. This is to prevent possible drops or drips of sweet substance or crumbs that becomes a food source and attractant to these ants at other parts of your home, particularly in your resting area such as bed room or gathering area in the living room.
• Cookies, candies and sugary biscuits are kid’s soft spots. Do store them carefully in well-sealed or tightly closed containers. Do apply these habits to condiments such as sugar or honey.
• Because of its minute size nature, they can slip into almost any possible gaps and space. Ensure that you check your home thoroughly and conceal adequately.
• Wipe spills and clean off leftovers or food traces regularly before they attract these ants.

You may also like: 4 quick tips on ants control

How to identify the different ant species?

It may be difficult to identify if that is sugar ant nesting in your home, unless home owners understand more facts of sugar ants. For instance, the outlook between the male and female is different. Male ants are black in colour, whereas female ants are orange-colored.

These mild-tempered ants do not sting like fire ants, which can cause swollen spots, painful blisters, allergy or itch. However, it can cause annoyance once it turns massive.

Pharaoh’s Ant is another type of common ant found in buildings. If you have Pharaoh’s ants at home, do not attempt to spray them with repellent insecticide! This will cause the situation to worsen as the colony splits and make ant control further challenging.

Carpenter Ant is the other species that is often found in your home, because they also feed on protein and sugar, including honey and syrup. Due to their nature in tunneling wood for nesting purposes, they might be mistaken or confused with termites. Unlike termites, Carpenter ants do not feed on wood, however due to their tunneling activities; they may damage or destroy your structures. Their nesting area could also be found outdoors, particularly in landed homes where there is a garden or presence of trees, shrubs, timber and landscapes.

Read also: Are Ants or Beetles Capable of Damaging Your Furniture?

Tips to keep an ant infestation under control

These ants do bite in defense and can be painful. On average, a colony could contain as much as 3,000 ants, thus explain how these ants infestation can get out of control. Here are some short term quick steps you can take to keep the problem under control

• Ensure housekeeping is diligently met, including proper food storage and disposal
• Make sure moisture level is under control. Check for any leaking pipes or leaks
• Seal cracks around the foundation
• Install screens to prevent potential entry to your home
• Keep a look out for tell-tale signs such as presence of sawdust-alike substance or wood damage. However, most of us tend to mistaken it for termites. Find out more on the difference between termites and ants.
• Remove excess from your garden, like unwanted grass, debris, wood piles, leaves etc

Treating an ant infestation at home with professional help

Our job is to help you clarify your doubts, particularly, to help you identify which pest is actually bothering your home and why. Accurate identification is the first step before any recommendation can be offered to resolve your worries. Get in touch with us to find out the ant control solutions available today.