Ants
Have an ant problem?
It’s not uncommon for someone to walk into a room and make the disgusting discovery that their floor or table is covered in ants! They are clever creatures who can make their way into your home through the tiniest of openings. They swarm through nearly invisible cracks to gain access to moisture and available food sources, or in search of the perfect place to build their nest.
Unfortunately, if you think that keeping your home tidy and free of crumbs or open food containers is enough to keep the ants away, we have bad news for you: to ants, almost anything can be food, from fruit to old moldy furniture. Moreover, some varieties excel at finding hidden locations inside your home to build their nests for easy access to the water and all the delicious “food” you provide them. It can be nearly impossible to find these nests, which can even be located inside walls, without an expert who can spot the signs and track down their headquarters.
Common St. Louis ant types
In order for an ant technician to effectively eradicate ants from your home or commercial building, they have to first identify the species they are dealing with. There are thousands of species of ants, however, there are four that are most commonly found in St Louis:
Carpenter ants
These are normally 6 to 12 mm in length and as the name suggests, they can be found burrowed in damp wood where they build their nest. They’re the largest of the common local ant species at about a half-inch long. They are usually black and sometimes are found in shades of red.
Odorous house ants
Dark brown or black in color, odorous house ants usually measure between 2.4-3.3 mm in length. They are constantly in search of food, which makes kitchen cupboards and pantries some of the more common areas where they’re found. When their bodies are crushed, the smell of rotten coconut pervades the air.
Pavement ants
As the name suggests, pavement ants are usually found living inside the cracks in your driveway, foundation, or concrete patio. Pavement ants are very small, less than 1/4 of an inch. They don’t move very fast and are normally black or brown.
Pharaoh ants
This species is commonly found in restaurants, hospitals, and apartment buildings. Pharaoh ants are very resilient so DIY pest control methods are unlikely to even get rid of the ants you can see, let alone their invisible nests. Moreover, they can carry, spread, and infect your household with dangerous, disease causing bacteria, such as staph and salmonella. They’re very small— about 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch and their color varies from reddish to light tan.
Where do ants come from?
How do ants get into your home and then settle in so well you need a professional to get them out? Once they’ve decided your home is a good target, the scout ants come in through invisible entry points, for example, cracks around windows or doors.
The scout ants identify the location of the “food” source that attracted them to your home. As they explore, they leave behind a scent trail that other ants can follow.
The rest of the ants, known as a colony, follow the scout ants’ trail. Depending on the type of ant, they may look for a good place inside your home to build their nest, or they may build a nest just outside and identify a good location for their nest.
Unfortunately, what makes a nest location good for ants are often times the things that make them bad for humans. They can be in hard to reach or invisible places like inside walls, in cracks in your patio or driveway, or under your floor. Ants can build a nest anywhere in or around homes.
Once you see ants in your home, odds are they’re still there even if you’ve gotten rid of the ones that are visible. Ant colonies are BIG: some have over 5,000,000 ants. Moreover, they can repopulate! The queen can live as long as 30 years and worker ants normally live for around 7 years.
An ant infestation requires a multi-dimensional treatment approach. While there may be hundreds of ants visible, there may be thousands of others waiting in a nest outside the home. Our technicians not only destroy the ants that are visible, we track the colonies back to their nest and then take out the reserves with them. The idea is to eradicate the problem from root— and fast!
St. Louis ant exterminators
Don’t let their size fool you. Ants may be tiny, but they can wreak havoc in your home. These little scavengers are famous for their strength (some ants can lift up to 50 times their body weight!), but at PurePest we’re more concerned with the dangers and discomforts that can plague an ant-infested home.
If your home has been invaded by ants, you’re not alone— ants are among the most common household pest problems. Unfortunately, they are also one of the most complex pest problems to solve since they come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and species, and each variety requires a specialized plan.
If you’re dealing with an ant infestation, Pure Pest can help. Our team members know how to identify exactly what kind of ant problem you’re dealing with, and are equipped to handle it for you right away.
Pure Pest ant extermination methods
Our team of experienced technicians is fully trained in identification and ant control. We can quickly develop a plan to rid your home of these unwanted pests.
Baits – These are helpful in getting rid of indoor ants, but the nest outside must be sprayed with insecticide. We also seal all cracks and crevices and scrub around entry points with detergent to eliminate pheromones, after which we spray a residual insecticide around them.
Nest Destruction – The most direct way to get rid of indoor ants is to locate and destroy the nest.
Ant treatment tips
Ants are, at best, a major nuisance to homeowners and at worst, endanger their health and safety. Controlling these armies of tiny invaders is a subtle art. While good hygiene and careful food storage are generally good practices, they’re simply not enough to protect your home from an an infestation, especially considering range of behaviors we see from different species.
Our technicians are often asked “How do I get rid of ants in my house?” and the answer is that protecting your home from ants requires a combination of tactics:
Good sanitation
Removing pheromones
Caulking entry points
Destroying active nests
All of these are necessary to truly resolve the problem for the long term, and while good sanitation is something you can probably handle on your own, it’s important that you bring in a professional to help you with the other aspects of ant control, as our technicians will know just how to handle your specific infestation, and how to reinforce likely entry points for future scout ants.
Nobody wants to share their home with ants, they are unwanted, pesky, and sometimes dangerous insects! We know that once you spot them, you’ll want to get rid of them right away! When it comes to getting rid of ants from homes and commercial buildings, we are the experts you can count on to get the job done, and done fast. Our trained and qualified technicians know how to identify the various species, where to look for their nests, and how to effectively eliminate these pests from your property.
