Ants are a problem that you can solve with your Tulsa exterminator. These colony ants are marching upon your home and attempting to take over. Underneath our feet, and in our yards is a massive battle constantly happening all around us. These tiny insects march upon one another, in an attempt to survive the harsh cruel world of our yards and fields. So it’s important that you understand these insects so that you can protect your home, and your loved ones from them. So in this article, let us take a good look at ants, their lifecycle ant what you and your Tulsa exterminator can do to protect yourselves from these insects.

ANT PHEROMONES TULSA EXTERMINATOR

There are many different species of ant. These insects are all colony insects. They also use pheromones to communicate with one another. This means that there is a smellable hormone that they will emit in order to communicate to other ants when something is happening. Workers will communicate that they found food with a pheromone. Soldier ants will communicate that there is a problem with a pheromone. Queens will indicate reproductive cues using pheromones. And so many other things are communicated and made available by these hormones.

For instance, workers use pheromones when foraging for food. When an ant leaves the colony in search of food, it will wander around until it finds a source of food. The worker ant will pick up a little bit of this food to make its way back to the colony, leaving a trail of pheromone as it walks. Other ants will pick up on this pheromone and head out to the same food supply. As they pass over this trail, they will leave their own pheromone, making the trail stronger. As more and more ants do this, the trail gets much stronger and more ants join in. They’ll do this until they’ve completely picked the food source dry. 

If another ant has found the same food source by a longer path, it will take longer for those ants to go the distance. That means that the pheromone trail will be renewed at a much slower pace than the shorter trail. Overtime, the shortest pheromone trail will get stronger and stronger, attracting more ants to follow the shorter trail. Eventually the longer pheromone trail will simply phase out. Contact your Tulsa exterminator for more information.

ANT TYPES AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR

In Oklahoma, we have a lot of different types of ants that make their way into our ecosystem. There are actually two different kinds of fire ant. There is the indigenous fire ant and the non-indigenous fire ant. Both of these red ants have a very painful bite. If you knock over their mound, an army of them will come out and crawl up on your leg and bite. While the indigenous ones are somewhat more docile than the non indigenous, they still will protect their nests if put in that position. The non indigenous are problematic because they’re an invasive species. They will attack the indigenous species and overrun them. They are much more aggressive and a big problem in many fields in Oklahoma and Texas.

Argentine ants are a large number of the outdoor ants that we see in Oklahoma. These ants create colonies that are so cooperative with one another, they are considered a super colony. This means that a huge area that has multiple queens and therefore multiple colonies is actually considered one large colony. There are many etymologists that believe that the entire Atlantic seaboard contains one large, super colony of argentine ants. As each queen begins a new colony, her workers will help not only her own colony, but the colonies around them of argentine ants. Your Tulsa exterminator will have more information.  

THIEF ANTS AND TULSA EXTERMINATOR 

The thief ant is an ant that we see often near pharaoh ants. Pharaoh ants are common, and these ants makes a mound and does some of the more mundane things that we find ants doing. These ants are unique, in the fact that they will make a small mound very close to the pharaoh ant mound, and then simply walk into the pharaoh ant mound. In most cases, this would set up an alarm situation where the worker ants would release an alarm pheromone notifying the soldiers that there’s a threat. But the thief ant is adept at releasing a pheromone that makes the pharaoh ants believe that it is one of their own. The thief ant will go inside, steal larva and eggs from the pharaoh ant, and then returned to its colony, feeding these eggs and larva to their young. Contact a Tulsa exterminator for help.

ANT BODY SECTIONS

Everyone has seen an ant at one time or another. These insects have three distinct body parts, separated by a very narrow waist. This gives them the ability to move and turn quite adeptly. But it also limits their digestion. The last body part is the abdomen. In it all of the vital organs, including the ones for the digestive system are found. Because food comes in the mouth and must pass through all three body parts, these insects can only feed upon liquid. So, when solid foods are brought into the colony, they must be first fed to larva. Larvae have the ability to feed upon solid foods. They will overfeed on the food and eventually regurgitate some of the food into a liquid food substance. This gives the adult ants something to eat that they are going to need to survive.

If you’re having an issue with ants or any other problems, then it’s time to contact your Tulsa, exterminator. Here at TermMax pest control, we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with ants or any other pests. We service the greater Tulsa area, including Claremore, Coweta, Catoosa, Broken Arrow, Owasso, Turley, Sand Springs, Prattville, Sapulpa, Jenks, Bixby, and so much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!

to top