In today’s day and age, our homes are our greatest investment. They are where we stay, live and protect our families and loved ones. These love ones include our pets and children. It’s important to protect our whole family from pests and pest related issues. Ants are one of those issues. There are many different kinds of ants that attack your home, and try to live there. Each type of these insects has different motivations for invading, but in every case need to be eliminated.
THE ODOROUS HOUSE ANT
There are many different kinds of ants that can make themselves a pest. Some prefer to be outdoors, and some prefer to be indoors. A common indoor ant in Oklahoma is the odorous house ant. This species is particularly difficult to eliminate from Oklahoma households. It’s called an odorous house ant because, when it is crushed, it has a distinct smell to it. This smell is much like a musty coconut smell. These ants prefer to live indoors and will find harborage in your home. These insects are difficult to eliminate because they have the ability to splinter. When colonies splinter, they basically have individuals separated from the original colony. When a group of ants are separated from the original colony, and cannot get back, then those insects will create a new colony. One of the ants will become the queen and you’ll have a second colony in the mix.
If you try to use an over-the-counter spray with these bugs, it will be disastrous. Over-the-counter pesticides are repellents. This means that when an ant smells it it will go the opposite direction. When you spray one of these pesticides, it creates a barrier that they can’t cross, separating a group of ants from its original colony. This will cause a second colony to begin and now you have twice the problem. The best solution when you have ants in your home especially odorous house ants, is it called professional. You’re Broken Arrow exterminator can help.
FIRE ANTS AND HARVESTER ANTS
Another kind of ant species is the fire ant. In Oklahoma, we actually have two different kinds of fire ants. We have native fire ants, and imported fire ants. The imported fire ant is a non-indigenous species which is invasive. It’s actually detrimental to the ecosystem. There are many fields in Oklahoma that are covered with mounds from these invasive insects. They will attack the native fire ants, and overtake their colonies. Both of these will bite and their bite is very painful. These red colored insects are very common in rural areas.
Also found in Oklahoma are harvester ants. The harvester ant is found mostly in cornfields. These insects preferred to eat grains and corn‘s. They also have a very painful bite. It’s not often that you would see any of these ants inside of your home or business, and if you did they would only be foraging for food, and quickly leave. Pavement ants are another kind of species found commonly in the Tulsa area. These ants prefer to create their colonies in cracks and gaps in the ground. The most common place they find those are in areas of pavement, where these bugs get their name. Your local Tulsa pest control company can help.
OTHER ANT SPECIES
There are two other kinds of ants that work against one another. The pyramid ant is an outdoor species that creates a rather large colony with a mound. The thief ant looks much like the pyramid ant, only it is much smaller. This ant will create its colony on the edge of the ant hill of the pyramid ant. The thief ant will sneak into the pyramid ant’s colony and steal a larvae from the pyramid colony, and then take it back to its original colony. Then the thief colony will break down the larva and consume it. This is why they call them thief ants.
ANT DIET
Different ant species eat many different things. Many enjoy honeydew. Honeydew is a sweet, sticky substance that is secreted from aphids. In fact, some ants even herd or farm aphids. They basically offer protection to the aphids in exchange for exclusive rights to their honeydew. Some species of these insects eat fungus. Leaf cutter ants actually cut leaves and take them back to the colony where they use those leaves to feed the fungus in their colony. The fungus is then eaten by them.
Still others are predators. Many ants are predators of other insects. One of these in insects is the termite. When an ant colony discovers a termite colony, the ants will send a mob to overrun the termite colony and attempt to consume the termites. Termites have soldiers with large heads that defend the colony. But these soldier termites are no match for the oncoming onslaught of hundreds of these bugs that are coming their way. Really the soldier termites are there for one purpose, to slow the ants down. By sacrificing themselves, they will slow them down long enough for termite workers to close off the tunnel behind them.
Ants will also attack larger bugs in an attempt to gain food. Beatles, spiders and other large insects can be made into a meal by a large group of them. Of course, there are some insects that feed on ants, but usually those do so by picking off one or two at a time. A Tulsa exterminator can make quick work of these pests.
When they’re young as larvae, they need more protein in order to grow and build the structures of they’ll need to be adults. The adults such as the workers need more carbohydrates in order to have the energy to do the day-to-day things that are needed to be done by the colony.
ELIMINATING PESTS
If you’re having an issue with ants or any other pest, it’s important that you get a licensed, trained professional Broken Arrow pest control company to help you out. They are going to have the know how and the means to do exactly what’s necessary to get your situation under control. Here at TermMax Pest Control, we are the best in the business. We service the greater Tulsa area including Owasso Broken Arrow, Sapulpa, Sand Springs, Coweta, Claremore, Catoosa, Jenks, Prattville, Bixby, Turley and much much more. Call today for a free estimate. We are here to help!