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Ants Could Be Inside Your Home & Outside in Your Yard!

Insects are no stranger to the residents of Virginia. Coming across a pesky fly, a grotesque cockroach, and an annoying ant is common place, along with a plethora of other such bugs. Every insect has multiple species and some of these species are more common to the area. Ants for example, have nearly 1,000 different ants in the United States alone. But today, we at Eagle Pest Services would like to shine the spotlight on the most common species of ants scurrying the surfaces of your home.

 

Ant Identification Chart

1) Acrobat Ants: Acrobat ants are easily identifiable with with their very distinct and unique, heart-shaped abdomen. Additionally, these ants are small and vary in colors from light red, brown, and black. They often infiltrate homes through cracks in the foundation and any small gaps around windows and doors. Their sting is noticeable when threatened, and like most ants they have come into your home looking for food.

2) Carpenter Ants: Carpenter ants are black, red, or a combination of these colors, bear wings, have one node and a constricted waist. These ants are attracted to the wooden materials found in your home. They can often be heard hard at work in the wooden structures, and piles of wood shavings and deceased ants are a sure give away that they are within your walls. Unlike termites, they do not eat wood, but do cause nearly as much damage as they tunnel through the wood to create galleries in construction of their nests in your home. They do eat any human or pet food they can find.

3) Odorous House Ants: Considered a tiny ant, they only grow to approximately 1/8”. The scent that emits after being crushed is what earned them their name, as it reeks of a rotten coconut smell. Odorous house ants are frequently spotted in the kitchen area. Having quite the sweet tooth; they favor your sugary delights, but will easily consume dog food and toothpaste.

4) Pavement Ants: These ants generally build their nests in or under cracks in pavement, including sidewalks, walls, and other such concrete structures. If they are found inside your home, they are most likely discovered in walls and under floors. Though a problem in Virginia, these ants are not found throughout the United States, but are locally found in the eastern half of the country. Pavement ants are a light brown to black colored ant and their legs are lighter in color than the rest of its body. These ants are relatively harmless, but like most ants, can still contaminate your food supply.

5) Thief Ants: Thief ants have a unique size and color; they are the tiniest household ant in the world, only getting up to less than 0.1 of an inch in length, and range in yellowish to brown colors. These ants are rightly named thief ants because they will steal larvae and pupae from neighboring ant colonies. Because they sometimes feed on dead rodents, your food supply can be in danger of contamination if they come into contact with it.

 

Ant Extermination

If you have an ant problem in your home, don’t let these squatters stay long and contact Eagle Pest Services and our experts will remove the infestation from your home quickly and efficiently.