Ants are an issue that you and your Tulsa pest-control company can deal with. These colonizing insects are waging wars in our yards and fields. These eusocial insects fight it out for survival and food sources. While the battles happening ant to ant underfoot may be inconsequential to us, when they start to make their way into our homes, or attacking our love ones, they can become a problem very quickly. So in this article, let us take a good hard look at ants, their lifecycle of what you and your Tulsa pest control company can do to protect yourself from these insects.

ANT COLONIES AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

These ant colonies are made up with thousands and thousands of individuals. In order to organize the work appropriately, they split the work up amongst their population by caste system. There are three different castes. The first caste is the reproductive caste. This includes mostly just the queen. She is tasked with laying all the eggs for the entire colony. She must keep up the population high enough to be able to meet all the needs of the colony. In addition to her, she can often has secondary reproductives depending upon her species. They can help with the egg laying process or be used to create new colonies.

The next caste in the colony is the soldier caste. These ants are important to the protection of the colony. They are often armed with special organs, such as large heads and powerful mandibles, in order to protect the colony, and even run raiding parties on other ant colonies nearby. Lastly we have the worker ants. These ants are the most numerous of the bunch. They’re all sterile females, and they do the menial jobs of the colony. They will do such menial jobs as take out the trash, forage for food, tend to be young, build a colony, bring food back and so much more. Call your Tulsa pest control company for help with ants.

PEACEFUL ANTS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

There are so many different ant species. They use many different strategies in order to protect their colony and provide for it. One of those more peaceful ant colony is the leaf cutter ants. These ants have formed a symbiotic relationship with a fungus that they keep inside their colony. They will go out and find vegetation, cutting off the leaves of this plant that they find. They’ll take these huge pieces of leaves that are often many times as large as they are, and carry them back to the colony. The workers will cut them up and bring them down inside and start feeding them to the fungus below. As the fungus eats the plants, they will produce a sweet, sticky substance that the ants can eat. The fungus will get protection from the outside world and the ants get a source of food.

AGGRESSIVE ANTS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

There are other ants that have a not so peaceful relationships with their surroundings. The Amazon ant is a great example of this. These ants actually get slaves. Amazon ants do not have the ability to create workers amongst their own numbers. They can’t tend to their young. They can’t forage for food and they can’t do any of the things that are required to maintain their own colony. So in order to do this, they go to a nearby colony and attack. They release a pheromone or smellable hormone that alerts the other ants in the invaded colony to run away. 

Then they make their way down to the brood and start picking up eggs and larva, and go back to their own colony. Some of these eggs and lava will become food, and the rest of them will be treated with a pheromone that fix them to believe that they are part of the Amazon ant colony. And as they develop into full grown adults, they will become workers for the Amazon ant colony. Contact your Tulsa pest control company for more information about these crazy ants.

THIEF ANTS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

The thief ant is another unique ant that sets up camp outside of a pharaoh ant colony. The thief ants are small and will make their way into the pharaoh ant colony. They will release a pheromone fooling the pharaoh ants into believing that they are friendly ants of the same species. They also make their way down to the brood and steal the eggs and larva of the pharaoh ant. As they make their way out and go back to the home colony, they will feed the eggs and larva that they have stolen to themselves and their young. This is why they are called thief ants.

ELIMINATING ANTS AND TULSA PEST CONTROL

Dealing with ants can be difficult. Many times they reproduce in ways that make it difficult to simply spray them. Often when someone sees an ant in their home, they will simply grab a can of the nearest pesticide and spray away. While this may kill the insect that they can see, it can create huge issues for the ants that they can’t see. The odorous house ant is the most common ant that we see inside peoples homes. They reproduce by process known as splintering. If you spray enough pesticide that you trap a set of worker ants away from their queen, they will eventually become reproductive themselves. The group of worker ants that separate will splinter off and become a brand new colony with its own queen. Now you have two colonies, creating twice as many ants. Contact your Tulsa pest-control company for help.

GETTING HELP

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