Ants are one of the most common pests in Menifee, Southern California. They tend to constitute a nuisance in any environment and are equally one of the hardest to eradicate.
Usually, ant infestation causes a nuisance in the home, and depending on the specie you're dealing with, your food, building structure, and even your health might be at risk. That's because ants are most likely to follow food scents; some species like the carpenter ants eat up woodwork.
Another ant problem you might have to deal with as a homeowner is the laying of eggs in their thousands. It gets worse when the ant colony gets comfortable enough to nest indoors, lay eggs, and hatch their larvae.
Are you a homeowner in Menifee looking effectively get rid of ants infestations? This article has the key information that you need.
1. Know The Type Of Ant Infestation You're Dealing With
Before rushing in to get rid of ants, you need to first figure out the exact kind of ant infestation you're dealing with. There are two major types of ant infestations that you might experience in your home and they include:
Ants foraging inside but nesting outside
Sometimes, ants may nest outside your home but come into your home for food. This type of infestation occurs when their food source is in your home. However, for some reason, they can't nest inside. An example of ants in this category is the fire ants; they dig up to 20 feet deep fire ant mounds outside.
If you constantly find ant activity in your home but you can't trace their nest, it's most likely you're dealing with this type of ant infestation.
To eliminate the ant's food source, one thing you can do is to find a way to disrupt their scent trails. Also, you can use granular ant baits to lure and kill the ants. or, simply allow them to lead you back to their nests so you can eliminate the entire colony.
Ants That Forage and Nest Inside Your Home
As you know, ant colonies like to be around a food source, so they can store food easily. In this kind of infestation, these ants come to gather in your home (or specific places in it), provided they find a steady source of food supply.
Additionally, the ants are most troublesome because they'll always search for food, hence disrupting the peace of your home. The only upside with these sorts of ant infestations is that finding the ant nests won't be too difficult. Once you do find the nests, you can go ahead to administer control treatments.
In all, you can effectively control both infestations with ant bait.
2. Know The Ant Species
There are different ant species and they all have their traits such as preferred food source, and nest locations. You need to identify what ant species is troubling you, and know some basic things about them. Doing this will help you decide on the best ant treatments to solve your ant problems.
The most common species of ants you'll find in Menifee are:
Argentine ants
Argentine ants are usually light or dark brown. The queen specie can grow between 1/8 - 1/4" long.
When outdoors, these ants can create their shallow nests on buildings, under logs, under stones, etc. These nests are often built on moist soil mostly located close to food sources.
Whereas when they are indoors, Argentine ants can nest behind large household appliances or walls.
Harvester ants
As their name implies, harvester ants are known to harvest or collect plant seeds as their main food source.
People who live in the urban settings dread them because of their stings. They also have a habit of removing plants from around their nests, thus leaving huge, bare spots in the garden.
Carpenter ants
Carpenter ants are large ants found in several places around the world. They make their nests in wood, especially damp wood. The name, "Carpenter ants" was gotten as a result of the damage they cause to building structures and furniture; they chew out wood to form tunnels inside the wooden structure, just like wood termites.
However, unlike wood termites, carpenter ants don't consume wood. Rather, they prefer to nest in damp or rotting wood.
Of all the ant species, carpenter ants are the most problematic because they cause damage to the wooden structure of your home.
3. Take Preventive Ant Control Steps
The best way to control pests in your home is by seeking effective prevention methods. The following are some simple steps you can take to control your ant problem, especially during the early infestation stage when the ant nests are situated outside your home:
Keep your yard, kitchen, bathroom, and other rooms in your house clean: Sweeping, cleaning, and washing dirty dishes are all good practices that'll help you get rid of ants.
Dispose of garbage properly: It's best to keep garbage in airtight containers outside the house.
Take note of scout ants foraging for food: Ants are social insects; these scouts will go back to bring entire colonies upon sighting food.
Eliminate any food source: Ants eat a lot of things including fruits, food crumbs, liquids/syrups, common insects, and even other ants. Never allow any of these things to lie around the floor of your house.
Seal up openings and cracks in your walls
Other DIY Pest Control Methods to Apply:
There are simple ways you can solve your ant problems without ever calling an ant exterminator. Most people overlook these methods because they turn out to be effective treatments at no extra cost to you. Some of them are also cheap and eco-friendly (unlike most pest control chemicals).
Here are two major DIY pest control measures for ants:
Ant Bait
Using ant bait is an inexpensive way to get rid of ants inside your house. To achieve this, you can keep granular ant (about 8 or 9 granules per square foot) baits in areas you find ants; follow their trail as they transport the food back to their nests. Then, can kill the entire colony.
You can also spray the bait with dangerous chemicals that'll kill the ant colony when the food is consumed in their nest.
Use natural Ant Repellents
Sprinkling salt, garlic, peppermint, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, vinegar, mint, chalk, etc can help you to repel ants. Not only will spraying these substances around your house get rid of common ants, but they may also ward off other pests like rodents.
Hire a Pest Control Expert in Menifee
Some of the preventive steps aforementioned also serve as DIY measures for ant pest control. However, if it comes down to getting rid of ants using pesticides, it's best to call in the experts.
If you are willing to take steps towards permanently eradicating pests in your home, then contact the LOCAL Bug Guy. We are a professional ant exterminator that helps residents in Menifee and its surrounding cities to get rid of ants and other pests.
Reach out to us today for inquiries and to get a free quote!