Ants are a problem that you and your Tulsa pest control company can solve together. These are a eusocial pest and colonizing insect that attempt to take over our yards and homes. Small wars are fought in our backyards as each colony fights against each other for the right to food and other things needed for survival. Sometimes we can get caught in the fray. If they try to set up shop inside our homes or find food in our kitchens or pantries, this becomes a problem quickly. In this article, let us take a good hard look at ants, their life cycle, and what you and your Tulsa pest control company can do to protect yourselves from this mighty little insect.
ANT LIFECYCLE AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
Ants are an insect that develop into adulthood by way of complete metamorphosis. This means that these insects start as an egg. When this egg hatches, the larva emerges. The larva is the worm like structure and stage of development of the ant. This is a very important stage for the colony of ants. Many people have seen the adult ant and recognize its shape. These insects have three distinct parts. They have a head, a thorax and abdomen. The abdomen or the last part of the ant contains all of the vital organs, including the digestive system. But the mouth, of course, is contained in the head.
In order for food to pass from the head to the abdomen, it must pass through two small wastes between the body sections. Because they’re so small, only fluids can pass through these sections. So in order for an ant to eat solid food, they must first feed it to their larva, who will eat every bit of it. Of course they can only use a portion of it and then they throw up the rest of it. Then the adult ants will come in and feed off the liquid that they have thrown up.
ANTS PUPATING
Once the larva have grown as far as they can, it will be time for this larva to pupate. This means it will create a cocoon around itself, and develop into the adult that it was meant to be. Once this stage is done, they will emerge as an adult from their cocoon. It’s at this point that they will take on the role that they will play in the caste system of the colony. Pheromones or smellable hormones have been applied throughout their development in order to program them for their working class. If you’re having issues with the ants or any other pests, then its time to call your Tulsa pest control company for help.
ANT CASTES AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
There are three castes in the ant colonies. They are the reproductive ants, the soldier ants, and the worker ants. The reproductive ant starts with the queen. She heads up the entire colony by laying all the eggs for that colony. She lays eggs night and day, in an effort to maintain the population necessary to ensure the survival of the colony. In addition, she may also have other secondary reproductives that will do other things depending on the species. Some species have secondary queens that also lay eggs to help the queen with her duties. Some have swarmers or flying ants that will fly off and seek out a mate in order to create a new colony elsewhere.
The soldier ants are tasked with protecting the colony. They usually have all sorts of defensive mechanisms, such as larger bodies and heads, strong mandibles, and glans that excrete acidic or sticky substance, or any number of other weapons at their disposal. Not only will they protect the colony, but in some species, they’ll actually take the lead when raiding parties attempt to raid other ant colonies. Lastly, we have the worker ants. These are sterile females that make up the largest caste in the entire colony. They are tasked with creating the colonies, taking out the trash, tending to the young, feeding the colony and 1 million other endeavors. If you are having an issue with ants or any other pests than its time to call your Tulsa pest control company.
ANT ELIMINATION AND TULSA PEST CONTROL
In order to eliminate a colony, it’s important that you understand what you’re dealing with. Being able to identify ant species is one of the traits that makes your Tulsa pest control company experts. They’ll be able to identify the offending ants and what is the best way to take care of these ants. If you attempt to try to do this at home without their help, you can run into a big problem. For instance, the odorous house ant is an ant that we find often in peoples homes. These ants multiply their colonies through a process known as splintering. If a group of worker ants is separated from the queen for too long of a period of time, they will start a brand new colony. One of the ants will become reproductive and then you’ll have a second queen, that will be heading up a second colony.
If you spray over-the-counter insecticides on your countertops, these repellent insecticides can separate out a group of workers from the original colony. So what you can do is that you can actually create a second colony by spraying, which doubles the problem that you’re going to have with these ants. Contact your Tulsa pest control company for help with all kinds of ants.
AN. CONTROL SOLUTIONS
If you’re having an issue with ants or any other pests than its time to call a Tulsa pest control company that can help. Here at TermMax pest control, we are the best in the business when it comes to dealing with ants or any other pest. We service the greater Tulsa area, including Sand Springs, Prattville, Claremore, Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Sapulpa, Coweta, Turley, Bixby, Owasso, Jenks, and so much more. Call today for a free estimate. We’re here to help!