Once they show up, it can feel impossible to get ants to leave again. These tiny pests come in the thousands, and no amount of squishing them or vacuuming them up seems to make a difference. Ant control in Roanoke, VA, can feel especially daunting, as our weather allows for a long growing season, with plenty of food to keep their population high.
The Ants Come Marching…
Everyone has seen an anthill at some point in their lives. They have tiny sandy openings, which disguise deep tunnel systems that contain thousands of these tiny pests. Ants are an important part of the ecosystem, but not an important part of your home. They show up uninvited and are notoriously hard to get rid of, seemingly endless in their numbers.
They provide important decomposition services, ensuring that the watermelon you drop on the sidewalk isn’t still there in 6 months, but can cause real havoc in your kitchen. Ants are not picky about where they get their food from, which makes them a persistent pest once they mark your home as a target.
Who Invited You?
Figuring out what is attracting the ants to your home is an important step in mitigation. Is there an open jar of honey on your windowsill? Or a bag of chips lying crushed under your child’s bed? Ants are experts at finding food sources, which makes removing them very important. If there is nothing for the ants to eat, they are less likely to swarm you en masse.
A daily wipe-down of counters and stoves, making sure all food is well sealed, and keeping the floor clean of dropped scraps are all great ways to make your home an unappealing target for ants. Summer pest control can be difficult, but prevention is always easier than treatment.
Scout it Out
Ants send scouts to check for food sources regularly. These scouts will hone in on the location of the meal and then head back to the nest to lead the rest of the colony to the food source. If you see a solitary ant casing your home, removing it will help prevent a surge of ants from invading your space. If you do not remove the scout, it is highly likely that it will return with a full force of tiny soldiers to invade your home.
Eviction Notice
There are several ant elimination methods that are quite effective when implemented properly. Cornstarch is a popular method from the older generation. It can be scattered directly onto the ants and then wet, making a gluey substance that ants cannot escape from that you can wipe up.
Taro traps are another great way to control ants in Roanoke, VA, and come with the benefit of being both pet- and child-safe. If you have tried one of these simple tricks and are still inundated with ants, reach out to Allied Termite and Pest Control today for help!
Garden Ants, When Are They a Problem?
Ants are supposed to be outside; that’s where we like ‘em. If you are a gardener, however, ants can be a constant source of annoyance in your plants. Ants are farmers in their own right, with aphids as their prime crop. Aphids feed on sap, which makes their excretions very sweet, earning them the name ‘honeydew’.
Extracting the sap from plants slowly kills them, making aphids a significant source of garden destruction. Ants will place aphids onto your plants and defend them from natural predators. Ants use their antennae to gently tap on the aphids, essentially milking them, to collect the honeydew. This makes up about 90% of their diet, giving them a lot of incentive to keep the aphids on your plants.
Two For One – Ant Control In Roanoke, VA Helps with Aphids Too!
Many folks do not understand the connection between ants and aphids, and so incorrectly spend their time trying to get the aphids off of their plants, only for them to be immediately put back on by the ants. Your treatment plan needs to be two-fold, as the sprays that kill aphids will not get rid of the ants, and the ant bait will not work on the aphids.
It is impossible to completely rid your garden of bugs, nor would you want to, so reduction is key. A couple of aphids are good, as they draw in predator pests; aphids killing every plant is an infestation that needs to be solved. Working with a knowledgeable exterminator is key, especially if you have both of these annoying pests!
No Ants in These Pants
If you are struggling with ant control in Roanoke, VA, it’s time to reach out to a professional. Allied Termite and Pest Control will be able to get their population under control again and make sure that your home is free of intruders!