Have you experienced a toothache? If you have, you know it is a painful experience, and you can't wait to get it out. Perhaps you've had a similar incident with a splinter in your finger or underneath your fingernail. You can't get the wood or metal shaving out fast enough, even if the removal requires additional pain.
When you enter the kitchen and see a line of ants marching lockstep along the baseboard, you want them out as fast as possible. You don't want to open the pantry a day later and see more ants crawling over foods. If you have ants in your house, you need pest control in Conroe from Chase Pest & Termite Control. We have protected people, pets, and properties with exceptional pest control services for over a quarter of a century. Our family-owned and operated company treats everyone as family, and the longevity of our technicians is proof of our dedication to our team members and community.
Because education is necessary to control pests, this article will address common questions regarding ants. We hope this information will help you as you work to get ants out of your Conroe home as soon as possible.
How To Identify Common Ants In Conroe
Ants are insects, which means they are in the same classification as wasps, cockroaches, termites, and bed bugs. Like all insects, ants have six legs, two antennae, an exterior skeleton (exoskeleton), and a body with three segments (head, thorax, and abdomen). Although some insects have wings (e.g., wasps) while others don't (e.g., bed bugs), some ants have wings while others don't.
Ants are social insects; they create colonies and live with other ants. A typical ant colony has one or more queen ants, sterile female workers, males (drones), and may or may not have winged reproductive ants. New colonies form in the spring when reproductive ants, known as alates or swarmers, fly from the nest, mate, and build new nests. Other colonies form when a queen, drones, and some workers leave an existing nest to begin a satellite nest nearby through a process known as budding.
Now that you know the characteristics and nesting habits of ants, let's identify two ants in the Conroe area that are problematic for homeowners:
- Carpenter ants
- Fire ants
As their name suggests, carpenter ants connect to timber. Unlike termites that eat wood for nourishment, these black, brown, red, or black-red ants chew through wood to create nests. Damp, fungus-infested wood attracts carpenter ants because they can easily bore smooth tunnels.
Carpenter ant infestations begin in the yard. In the spring, reproductive flying ants from a nearby nest coast along the warm air currents after a spring rain and search for new nesting locations. Rotting tree stumps, half-buried wood scraps, decaying landscaping timber, or fence posts provide the perfect area for a new nest.
Once a pair of reproductive ants land on the new nesting territory, they discard their wings and use them for nourishment as they begin to reproduce and care for their young. Once the nest matures, reproductive ants are released, and if there is a house nearby with entry points and the ants sense the aroma of fungus-infested wood in the crawl space or underneath a wooden porch or deck, they will enter the home. Furthermore, long dry periods may force carpenter ants in the yard to migrate toward the house as they search for food and water.
Destruction from carpenter ants is slower than from termites. It takes many years for carpenter ants to cause damage to a structure, but when that happens, you may experience warping window and door frames, sagging floors, and collapsing structures. Protect your investment with carpenter ant control in Conroe from Chase Pest & Termite Control.
Imported red fire ants are another problem for Conroe homeowners. These reddish to dark brown 1/16 to 3/16 inch ants usually live outside in irregular two to four-foot domed or flat mounds 18 inches tall next to foundations, trees, or landscape mulch. An imported fire ant mound may have up to 100,000 ants that will quickly respond to a perceived threat. If they feel threatened, they will swarm the suspect, bite to maintain a firm grip, and then sting the victim.
Fire ants are like wasps in that they have smooth stingers and can sting multiple times and inject their venom. Stings from fire ants cause painful, pustule-filled blisters which hurt and itch for many days after the attack. People with severe allergies may have an anaphylactic reaction requiring immediate medical attention. Protect your family with fire ant yard control for your Conroe home from Chase Pest & Termite Control.
Acrobat ants, crazy ants, odorous house ants, rover ants, and leaf-cutting ants may also cause problems for Conroe homeowners. These ants contaminate surfaces and food items; some give off an unpleasant odor when crushed. Although a few may bite, the pain is minimal, especially compared to a fire ant's sting. No matter the ant species infesting your Conroe home, Chase Pest & Termite Control is your ant control solution.
What's Attracting Ants In My House?
Food attracts ants to houses. Like humans, ants eat protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Ants get their carbohydrate nutrition from plant and fruit juices, insect honeydew, and human sweets like chocolate. Ants receive protein by eating dead insects, other arthropods, meat, and eggs. Lipid (fat) intake is provided by consuming grease and oils.
Plants and insects in the yard generally satisfy the ant's nutritional needs, but when long, dry periods reduce their energy supply, they will seek to enter your house. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain a clean house and yard if you want to deter ants from infesting your property in the future after Chase Pest & Termite Control brings the current ant population under control.
Water is another attractant for ants. Most ants require a relatively significant amount of moisture. For this reason, when you turn over a stone or timber out of the soil, you will usually find a myriad of ants scurrying about in the damp dirt. In the same way, when they enter a Conroe house, they gravitate to damp areas caused by poor ventilation, leaky pipes, or plumbing fixtures.
Once inside a house, ants do not usually have difficulty locating shelter. Ants hide in appliances, cabinets, wall voids, behind baseboards, and underneath insulation near food and water sources. Although some ants hide behind wood facades and masonry, you are most likely to find ants in bathrooms, laundry rooms, the kitchen, around water heaters in the basement, water pipes, and other areas with high humidity.
When you contact the best pest control for ants, Chase Pest & Termite Control, a technician will inspect your Conroe home for attractants and entry points. We will report their findings and work with you to address the situation to prevent future infestations after we remove the ants from your house.
What's The Best Way To Get Rid Of Ants?
Use the ant control service near your home from Chase Pest & Termite Control to remove ants. After identifying ant hot spots, attractants, and entry points, we begin the treatment process targeting the specific species infesting your Conroe property. For fire ants, we apply a granular product, known as the TopChoice fire ant system, on the mounds. This product attacks the nervous system of the fire ants and kills them. It also keeps fire ants away for up to one year after treatment.
The TopChoice treatment product also controls mole crickets and nuisance ants (e.g., acrobat, pavement, crazy, odorous house ants, etc.) for three months and stops fleas and ticks for a month. We use similar treatment methods to eliminate carpenter ants to prevent them from slowly destroying the wood in your home.
We have removed ants from homes and properties in Conroe since 1997. Decades of providing ant control for homeowners have given us the tools, education, and knowledge to safely and effectively remove ants from your property.
How Do I Prevent Ants From Coming Back?
Once we implement ant control for your home and property, you can take these steps to prevent a future infestation:
- Remove rotting wood from the property
- Create a barrier between mulch and the foundation
- Seal cracks in the foundation and roofline with caulk
- Screen the crawl space and attic vents
- Prune shrubs and tree branches away from the home
- Pick up rotting fruit from the yard
- Clear outdoor debris and junk from the yard
- Cover outdoor and indoor garbage containers
- Vacuum the house frequently
- Suction crumbs out of cracks and corners
- Repair leaky fixtures, pipes, and drains
- Provide ventilation to bathrooms, laundry room, and crawl space
- Install door sweeps on exterior doors
Food, water, and shelter attract ants to Conroe properties, so maintaining a clean, dry property inside and outside the house will deter future ant invasions. When you schedule an inspection, one of our trained technicians will provide additional ant prevention tips based on your unique situation. Contact Chase Pest & Termite Control to learn more about our ant control programs and request an inspection today.