9 Steps to Keep Ants Away

Ants are expert home invaders. Even with the most careful vigilance, these pests crawl their way through the tiniest cracks and crevices of your home looking for food. Regardless of whether you rent or own your home, or manage a commercial space, ants are one of the top pest concerns in California. In particular, several species represent not only a nuisance, but a danger to health and structures.

Fire Ants

Fire ants live in large mounds that can hold more than 100,000 ants. Building their mounds mostly in sunny, open areas like lawns, these pests can burrow outward from their nest for up to a mile. The danger of fire ants is their fiery bite and sting. They often move in large numbers, so people are often stung by multiple ants.

Big Headed Ants

Not surprisingly, these ants derive their name from the soldier’s disproportionately large head. Tending to invade homes in large numbers, they will also displace other ant species and kill beneficial insects. While a single colony can be relatively small, there are often multiple colonies within a small area. They nest in the soil, building their homes beneath stones, logs, and timbers. Within the home, they are commonly found in the soil of potted plants.

Argentinian Ants

Argentinian ants are the most common ants in California. Ranked as one of the world’s worst animal invaders, they live in cracks in concrete walls, between boards and timbers, and even between items in your home or office. Outside, they live in loose leaves or underneath small stones.

DIY Tips for Ant Control

Ants establish well-defined trails between their nest and their food and water sources. You can take practical and fairly easy steps to dissuade them from choosing your yard and home or office to invade.

• Make sure your doors and windows are properly fitted and sealed.
• Keep kitchens, bathrooms, and other living areas as clean and crumb-free as possible.
• Maintain cleanliness under refrigerators, stoves, and dishwashers.
• Keep the perimeter of your property clear of firewood, debris, and stacked materials like pavers and timbers.
• Keep foliage from coming in contact with your roof or other structure areas and clean up fallen foliage.
• Keep mulch away from your foundation.
• Seal leaks and standing water, and do not allow sprinklers to spray directly onto foundations.
• Seal exterior cracks.
• Avoid landscaping with plants that attract aphids and other similar insects.

Professional Ant Abatement

Unfortunately, treating certain ant species isn’t as easy as picking up a pesticide at your local hardware store. Many of these invasive species have multiple queens. Killing a few of them often signals an increase in reproduction, leaving you with more ants than before. It is also difficult to determine the species of ant you have on your premise, and you don’t want to risk having you or a family member or employee experience a painful sting.

Ant removal is best handled by an ant control service that will ensure complete eradication. Ecola will quickly identify the type of ant invading your premise and remove the ants using the best solution for the species found. Call Ecola at 800 471-BUGS (2847) when you need to remove ants.