How To Identify A Sugar Ant Infestation
Its not that hard actually and the most common signs are:
- An increasing number of ants crawling around in your home. Once the sugar ants find a convenient source of food, they will not leave. So, concentrate on inspecting your kitchen in detail.
- Signs of wooden furniture damage, as sugar ants are known to chew on wood.
- Visible nesting sites, which could be around your home or inside, usually in crevices or behind skirting boards.
As we mentioned earlier, sugar ants are physically similar to many other ant species. That makes it a bit difficult to determine whether you are indeed attacked by sugar ants or by carpenter ants, for example.
The only secure way of knowing is to call for a professional in the second you think there might be an actual infestation. They have the ability to tell the different species apart and will choose the most effective treatment to save you from the invasion.
Pretty sure you have banded sugar ants?
Letâs get in touch and deal with your infestation!
How To Get Rid Of Ants From Your Lawns
Ants can cause many health problems, even as most ants are typically not generally dangerous pests. Finding ant mounds on your lawn is not a pretty sight. They can also cause undue cosmetic and aesthetic damage. If not controlled, ants can quickly take over diverse areas on your lawn. Anthills and colonies will cause intricate labyrinths, thereby damaging your grass root systems. Before long, they can compromise the structure and beauty of your lawn.
Therefore, you need ant pest control in lawns. It is imperative when you have pets and children as those ant hills can pose a hazard. It also causes many areas of concern, making it difficult to mow or even walk around your lawn. There are different ways you can get rid of ants in lawns. Some are effective but may vary by your soil, grass type, and location. Others carry several risks, especially for homes with children and pets. Knowing the different ways to control ants in lawns will help you make the right choice to remove them.
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Why Do I Have Sugar Ants In My Car
There are several reasons why ants would want to sneak inside your car, chief among them a ready source of food or water and where the car was parked.
If your car has somehow become the ideal environment for these pests, you are very likely going to see one or two ants explode into hundreds or thousands.
On any other day, youd find the construction of ant society fascinating, but probably right now you just need to know that ants come in different casts. If youve seen an ant out and about its more than likely a forager or worker ant.
This class of ants is sent out in search of food, and for sugar ants, that means a sweet snack. Once they have found a source of food they will lay down a pheromone-infused chemical trail from it to their nest. This is why an ant problem can soon snowball.
So ultimately the reason you have ants in your car is that they have either been carried into it or they have discovered it themselves. If its the former then you may not have as big an issue as the latter scenario.
Sugar ants are found all over, but we most often encounter them in our urban environment. Places with a lot of humidity and a warm climate appeal to them. Woods, hills, and forests with or near gaps in the wood are the most common sites to find these insects.
So if you tend to leave your car unused for weeks on end or have a usual parking spot, make sure its not near the ideal place for a wandering sugar ant to find it. More on this later in the article.
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Once Removed How To Stop Them Coming Back
Deterring ants once you have eradicated them can be done in a few different ways.
Several preventative products will create a barrier repellant that stops ants from returning to the area. They will need to be applied a few times a year but can remain active for up to six months.
You can also use natural oils and citrus fruits to deter ants from the yard and home. Strategically placing citrus peel and aromatic sprays around the yard will stop ants in their tracks and make them look elsewhere for a place to forage.
The trick is knowing that you will never fully eradicate ants from your yard. But repelling them by making your yard and home less attractive than your neighbors is usually enough to keep them at bay.
How To Store Honey To Prevent Ants
Honey is another favorite for the sugar ants it is the premium sweet food for most ants.
Most homeowners dont want to refrigerate honey to maintain its quality, making proper storage in the cabinet or countertop crucial.
Keeping ants away from your honey requires care:
- Store the honey in an air-tight container or jar.
- Each time you take the honey out, wipe around the containers opening with a clean and damp cloth before securing the lid then wipe the containers wall and base thoroughly to remove any honey stain.
- Place the jar on a paper towel.
- Store it in a cool place away from sunlight.
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How To Get Rid Of Ants In Your Lawn Naturally
Despite all the species out there, its pretty easy to get rid of ants in your lawn regardless of the type youre dealing with. Theyre resilient and quick to proliferate, but theyre no match for some proven extermination strategies.
Here are some of the best ways to get rid of ants in your yard naturally.
How To Get Rid Of Groundhogs: 7 Tips And Tricks
Well discuss some tips and tricks on how to get rid of groundhogs. Well cover both lethal and non-lethal options for getting rid of these pesky creatures!
Groundhogs come to a yard or garden because they think it is a good place to find food and it provides a safe haven.. If you do not want groundhogs coming into your space, see to it that you make it less attractive to these burrowing pests.. Here are some of the known. groundhog attractants:. True enough, even gardeners and. some professionals swear by castor oil for getting rid of burrowers such as. groundhogs.. To deter groundhogs using castor oil, create a mixture of 1/2 cup castor oil and 2 cups of water.. Lavender This plant has many different uses but who would have thought that it is actually a good deterrent for groundhogs?. The best groundhog trap is perhaps the basic box-type cage trap.. Groundhogs are very cautious. creatures, so here are some tips for a successful trapping:. Using ammonia as a deterrent is actually my favorite method of dealing with groundhogs.. Pour the solution down the groundhog holes.. While groundhogs are skilled climbers, a properly installed fence will do a good job of keeping them out.. Groundhogs can be quite determined so make sure that you add an outward angle at the top of the fence.
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Ants Control Pests Naturally
Like ladybeetles, green lacewings, and other beneficial bugs, ants often help control pests by eating their eggs and young or disturbing them during feeding.
Ants are such an effective biological control agent, in fact, that some growers introduce them on purpose as part of an Integrated Pest Management strategy.
And this isnt a new idea, either. Accounts of farmers using ants to control pests date back to 300 A.D.
How To Get Rid Of Sugar Ants All About Sugar Ants
How to get rid of sugar ants? Dealing with an ant problem is no picnic. However, sugar ants that invade your kitchen and pantry see it as a feast. The more you know about them, the easier it is to prevent them from being an issue in your home. Since there can be up to 300,000 or more ants in a colony, its imperative to get control of these little insects as soon as possible.
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Pay Attention To The Garbage Can
It seems like a given that I am going to tell you to take your trash out often, but it can go overlooked. Sometimes the bag can get punctured causing liquid and sugary substances to drip inside the can.
It pays to invest in tough garbage bags that wont rip easily. Some variations also offer Arm & Hammer baking soda which will keep them deodorized.
In addition, it would be wise if you cleaned out the trash can on a regular basis. Again, I highly recommend the use of bleach for this task.
Investigate The Rest Of Your Home
The kitchen is the most common place where sugar ants go and are drawn to, but its not the only one.
A forgotten candy wrapper under your living room sofa can feed a lot of the insects for a long period of time.
Do a bit of investigation to check whether there is another food source that could be attracting the bugs. In case you do find one, get rid of it immediately and thoroughly clean the area around it and just to make sure the whole house.
There is also the chance that you wont find any other possible food source, which means that you might be attacked by a different species of ants. For example, carpenter ants settle their homes in damp, decaying, old wooden furniture and will go for any type of food. If you notice a nest of ants in such locations, maybe its time to call a professional pest control technician.
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How To Get Rid Of Ants Outside In The Yard
In the south, nothing can ruin a backyard event like an angry fire ant mound. All of the ant species we have discussed so far have a strong outdoor presence, but only become a pest when they come into your home. Not so with fire ants. Fire ants are a problem even if they never make it into your home. Fire ant mounds can appear in golf courses, playgrounds, suburban yards, and cracks in pavement or your homes foundation. When you step on one of the fire ant mounds, you immediately know it. Thousands of workers quickly descend from the nest to ward off the invader . Fire ants first bite with their jaws to stretch your skin, then sting with their abdomen and inject venom into your body. Each fire ant can sting you more than once. As you swat at and fling fire ants from between your toes, others are holding on tight and injecting their venom. A small white pustule forms usually the day after the bite/sting. Fire ant bites do not usually require medical treatment, however if a person is allergic to the venom, anaphylactic reaction may occur. If a very young baby or an elderly person has experienced an excessive number of bites, we urge you to seek medical attention.
Seven Ways To Get Rid Of Sugar Ants Naturally And Prevent Them From Entering The House
Sugar ants and their colonies can be difficult to get rid of. However, there are several safe ways to eliminate them at home and prevent them from entering the house with the help of natural, nontoxic solutions that are easily available and that dont add chemicals or toxins to the home and environment. These methods can also be used to help get rid of other species of ants.
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Getting Rid Of Sugar Ants In Other Places Of Your Home
The kitchen is not the only place for sugar ants to enter your home. Many times, homeowners may find sugar ants in their basements, bathrooms, and closets. Any source of food and water can attract sugar ants. That could be:
- A pack of chewing gum on your night stand
- An old candy wrapper in your bathroom trashcan
- A leaky bathroom sink
Natural Sugar Ant Treatment Methods To Try
If you cant call a pest control company right away or are willing to experiment a bit, you can try a few natural methods. Most natural methods arent powerful enough to get rid of an infestation.
But if you only see a few ants or have eliminated them and want to continue repelling them, these methods could do the trick. Heres how to get rid of sugar ants naturally.
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Is It Easy To Get Rid Of Ants
Unfortunately, ant control isnât always a simple fix. Some ant infestations have nothing to do with how clean or dirty your home is. Your property could simply be a haven for ants. This can create problems for homeowners as the late spring and early summer nuptial flights take place. Large swarms of winged ants set out to start new colonies, sometimes right in the voids of your walls. Other scenarios can be as easy to fix as getting rid of any ants that you see crawling around. Clean the area where the ants traveled with a regular kitchen disinfectant disinfectant or cleaning solution. This will erase the scented trails they leave behind. Ants that have never been in your home can follow this trail directly to the food sources previous visitors have found.
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The Behaviour Of The Sugar Ant
Banded sugar ants are mostly nocturnal creatures, more often seen pillaging for food at dusk and during the night. Of course, they go out during the day as well, but in smaller numbers. The minor workers discover the safest and most efficient route for the rest of the workers in the colony by leaving a scent trail. They are an omnivorous species that mostly feed on sweet substances.
Although sugar ants are generally not a threat to humans, the major workers do have a very painful bite because of the formic acid that they release when in danger.
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Are Sugar Ants Harmful To Humans
In most cases, sugar ants are not harmful to humans because they don’t bite or sting. They can be a nuisance though since their constant eating will attract other insects who might pose more of a threat, for example, cockroaches. Sugar ants do not carry any harmful diseases that can be passed onto humans, however, you still shouldn’t have to live with them hanging around your kitchen.
How To Get Rid Of Ants In Your Home
There are several different types of ants found in the United States. But the type youll want to look out for this winter: Carpenter ants! Carpenter ants, while seemingly harmless to humans, can create severe damage to your home. Carpenter ants in the United States typically hibernate during the winter so if you spot them in your house now, there is a high chance that an infestation has already occurred. The warmth of your home can keep ants from hibernating, and their activity can be detrimental. Homeowners in America should pay special attention to the following signs of carpenter ants:
- Tiny piles of sawdust near wooden structures of walls
- Rustling sounds
- Rotted, soft, or collapsed wood
If you notice any of the above listed in your home or suspect a carpenter ant invasion, we recommend having a calling a specialist immediately. A pest control specialist will be able to assess your pest problem and suggest the best solution. Carpenter ants are tough and a very common winter pest in America. Do not hesitate to contact a pest control company near your home for an environmentally friendly solution to your ant infestation this winter!
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How To Prevent A Future Sugar Ant Problem In Your Home
Most ant infestations begin outside the home, so monitor ants and ant hills you find on your property.
Prevention is key to any good pest control regime. Once youve figured out how to get rid of sugar ants, experts recommend focusing on preventative measures to keep them from coming back.
Luckily, preventing sugar ants is generally easier than trying to get rid of them. Best of all, using the preventative measures listed below can also help keep other household pests from becoming a problem in the future.
You can prevent sugar ants and other pests from returning to your home by following the below advice:
- Dont Leave Dirty Dishes In The Sink Overnight
Remember, sugar ants have a very strong sense of smell and can quickly overtake homes to get to food sources. If you leave dirty dishes out overnight, you are practically inviting these pests in for a free meal.
Washing dishes promptly or putting them in the dishwasher right away will not only help keep ants at bay, but also other pests like mice, roaches, and flies.
- Sanitize Countertops And Tables After Making and Eating Meals
Vinegar and citrus sprays work especially well to repel ants and can help eliminate their scent trail, as we discussed above. Routinely cleaning countertops and tables will also help reduce the chances of ants and other pests spreading potential illnesses to your foods if they do happen to get into them.
- Seal And Store Foods Properly
- Vacuum And Sweep Routinely
- Keep Up Routine Home Maintenance