Ants are one of the peskiest creatures that can infest your home or business. These tiny bugs find their way inside easily. Once inside your home or business, they are hard to spot and resilient in more ways than you may realize.
They come inside buildings mainly to look for food, water, or shelter. They’re generally drawn to foodstuff, so leaving food out or having crumbs laying around can contribute to an infestation. They can lift about 20 times their body weight, so they can haul out a good bit of food. However, you can find yourself with an infestation even if you keep the tidiest home. They may infest your bathroom or kitchen seeking out water, or just looking for a place to avoid extreme temperatures.
Ants lead to contamination wherever they walk. The National Center for Biotechnology Information has labeled them as a major vector of pathogens, particularly those that spread bacteria to food. Like any polite party guest, ants don’t show up to your home empty-handed. As they take bits of your food, they leave behind microorganisms that lead to human illness. They also cast out a pheromone trail so others can follow their path.
The ones you see out searching for food and water are workers. They live in a part of a community focused on a queen, who produces all of the members of the colony. The queen can live for years, sometimes decades, and produce millions of offspring.
Many biological factors make ants so successful. One is that they don’t have lungs; instead, they have around 10 openings called spiracles spaced across their bodies that take in air, each connected to tracheae that bring oxygen to the cells. They don’t have ears; instead, they detect vibrations in the ground through their feet. Some species don’t have eyes and communicate using their antennae.
These tiny pests aren’t only disliked because they spread pathogens. Depending on the species, their bites can range from annoying and itchy to extremely painful. The pain from a Fire Ant bite can last for weeks for some people. Certain people also develop blisters and hives in response to the ants’ poison.
Some are extremely destructive. Between painful bites and crop damage, Fire Ants are responsible for billions of dollars in damage yearly. Carpenter Ants are even scarier, chewing up wood beams and windowsills, burrowing into door frames, and ultimately doing so much damage the structural integrity of your home can be at risk.
If you have an ant infestation, don’t just give in and hope the issue works itself out. Instead, PestMan Pest Control is the answer. The licensed technicians with our locally-owned company take no greater pleasure than helping customers get rid of a pest problem. Eliminating invading pests isn’t just about eradicating them; finding the entry points where the bugs are sneaking in is crucial, and then sealing them off.
Contact PestMan Pest Control today to learn more about our Integrated Pest Management (IPM) solutions or to set up an appointment for service.