When it comes to pests that you will not want to find in your Edwardsville, IL home, ants are among the most common. Carpenter ants are small insects that make up three castes; queens, female workers, and males. All ants have three body elements; the head, thorax, and abdomen, just like any other insect. They also have a pair of distinctive bent antennae. Ants display a large range of different dietary preferences and nesting behaviors. You may find them making homes in soil mounds or around parts of your countertops or damaged wood. Have an ant problem in or around your home? Here are some ways to get rid of them.
Eliminating Carpenter Ants Indoors
By properly storing your food, it will decrease the prevalence of worker ants drawn to the food. Keep your kitchen surfaces clean and make sure to vacuum frequently. Also, be sure to rinse out your reusable kitchenware. You can make use of a variety of sticky barriers out on the market that can stop ants in their tracks. You can even disrupt ant trails by using a water and vinegar-based solution. If you find none of these methods effective, ants can be eliminated by pest control using types of dust.
Here are a couple of regular types of dust that is used:
- Permethrin
- Deltamethrin
Eliminating Carpenter Ants from the Outdoors
The reason that ants typically enter the home is to scavenge for food. They tend to use the same routes repetitively, creating a pheromone trail. You can sometimes locate the location of the nest simply by observing where the ants go. If the nest is found, we can treat it or eliminate it. If the nest cannot be found, pest control can employ an insecticide barrier around the outside of the home. In cases where the ants are entering through one area of the home, they can do a spot treatment of the area.
Here are some examples of types of insecticides:
- Acephate
- Bifenthrin
- Deltamethrin
- Cyfluthrin
- Carbaryl
- Permethrin
Bait Methods
Pest control not only makes use of insecticides, but they can also use bait to treat ants. The worker ants will take and return to the nest to share it with the whole colony. What makes this an effective method of dealing with ants is that it deals with ants who are in unreachable areas that cannot be reached by insecticides. The only disadvantage is that bait can take many weeks and months to eliminate the whole colony. There are many different types of ant baits available to buy at the store, however, it is important to know which species of ant you are dealing with as some ant species will not be attracted to certain types of bait.
Ants can be a real pain to deal with. Need someone who can deal with ants? Give our team at Brady Pest & Termite Management a call today and one of our professional pest control experts can help you take steps to eliminate the ants.
