Ants are a problem that your Broken Arrow exterminator has dealt with many different times. These small colonizing insects are a mobilized army fighting for the right to survive. While we look over our bright green, tree laden grass yard, it may look peaceful, but deep down inside, there’s a war going on. Ants are fighting one another in order to survive and thrive in these environments. They are an important part of the ecosystem, and can also find themselves in a position of being a pest. So in this article, let us take a good hard look at ants, their lifecycle, and what you and your Broken Arrow exterminator can do to protect your home from them.
INDOOR ANTS AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
In northeastern Oklahoma, we have one species of indoor ant that is most predominant. The odorous house ant is the ant of choice when it comes to ants in your house. They can be in your house throughout the entirety of the year. These particular ants will set up a colony inside your home. While other outdoor ants will send foraging ants into your home to find food and bring it back, these ants set up camp here. They get their name from the fact that if you take an ant and crush it and smell it they have a very unique smell. Many people describe it in different ways, but to me, it smells kind of like a musty, coconut smell. It is very unique and easy to identify odorous house ants by this.
Odorous house ants use a process of splintering in order to reproduce the colony. This means that the queen of the colony will emit a pheromone that tells all of the female workers to remain sterile. All the workers in the colonies are always female. As the ants come and go, they are in contact with this pheromone.
Every time they return to the colony. If something happens with a group of worker ants are separated from the colony for an extended period of time, they are no longer in contact with this pheromone. What will happen is one of those ants that has been away from the colony the longest will suddenly become reproductive. She will become a queen of a new colony. She will begin to produce a pheromone now that the other worker ants there with her will adopt. They will now be the beginning workers of her new colony. Contact your Broken Arrow exterminator for help.
CONTROLLING ODOROUS HOUSE ANTS
Odorous house ants are not the only ant species that use a splintering method to multiply their colony, but they are the most prolific because they’re in our homes. This means that if you go to your local grocery store and get a can of pesticide, you can spray so much with that you could separate ants from their home colony. If you do this, you’ll start to multiply the number of colonies in your home. If you have two colonies where you had earlier one, with two queens producing offspring, you’ll end up with two times the number of ants in your home. This is why it’s so important to use the proper pesticide against any ant. You’re Broken Arrow exterminator will know exactly the right one to use.
PEACEFUL ANTS AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
Leaf cutter ants are a type of ant that is far more peaceful than the average species. This ant simply seeks to go out and cut off pieces of a leaf in carry it back to its nest. The colony does this because it gets its food by a symbiotic relationship with a special fungus. Carrying these pieces of leaf that are many times larger than the worker itself, they will drag them inside the colony, and feed them to this fungus. As the fungus feeds upon these pieces of leaf, they will produce a sweet, sticky substance that the ants can use to feed off of. This symbiotic relationship can help them to survive, and to protect the safety of the fungus.
Leaf cutter ants are not the only ants that use a symbiotic relationship to provide for itself. Aphids are a special kind of insect that feed upon the fluids found inside of plants. They will stab their sucking mouth parts into the side of a to the draw the nectar out of these plants. This nectar has a lot of sugar, but it also has a lot of water. Because of this, they will overfill with water and will alleviate the problem by excreting some of the nectar. The sweet substance that they poop out is known as honeydew. Some ants will actually heard aphids much like we herd cattle. They will protect the herd of aphids in exchange for a complete access to the honeydew that they produce. This gives the ants, the ability to feed their young and the aphid gets the protection from predators. Contact your Broken Arrow exterminator for more information.
OUTDOOR ANTS AND BROKEN ARROW EXTERMINATOR
While outdoor ants normally don’t bother us, they can send scouts into your home to find food. If they find that food, they will continue to send workers until they wipe you out. This can be very problematic. Of course, no one wants ants in their home. In this case, it’s important to contact your Broken Arrow exterminator in order to stop the supply of ants into your house. In many cases there are cracks and crevices in your home that they’re making their way through to get into your kitchen and pantry areas.
If you’re having an issue with ants or any other pests, them it is time to contact your Broken Arrow exterminator today. Here at TermMax pest control, we are the best of the best when it comes to dealing with ants or any other pests. We service a greater Tulsa area, including Broken Arrow, Sand Springs, Prattville, Sapulpa, Claremore, Catoosa, Coweta, Owasso, Turley, Jenks, Bixby, and so much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!