Summer Ant Pests

When the summer time sets in the more time people are spending outdoors barbecuing and having fun. The weather is warm and inviting and that gets people out and enjoying the time with food and friends. The problem that comes with the warmer weather are the amount of pests that you are going to have to deal with. One of the pests that show up without fail in the summer are ants. They constantly work to collect food and build nests and tunnels. That means that if they find something they like in your home they will come on it. There are several things that you can do to keep ants from getting inside the home.

Eagle Pest Services lists the most common ants found in Virginia and how to keep them out of your house.

Little Black Ants: One of the most common ants that are found in the area is called the Little Black Ant. They are small as the name suggests and are usually a 16th of an inch. They are also dark black and have a very small stinger that is weak and is not used very often. The colony of these ants stay fairly small and they are happy to move to other areas if they are being disturbed. They come in homes in search of food and will move into your home if they are enticed.

Carpenter Ants: These are a much larger ant coming in about a half inch fully grown. They are also black in color and have no stinger. They travel is a much bigger colony that can reach up to 15,000 in total. These kinds of ants like to be outdoors and are found commonly in moist wood that is decaying but they will come in the home in search of food. 

Pavement Ants: Another type of ant that you can find quite often is called a pavement ant and they are in between the black ant and the carpenter ant in size. They have a black body and brown legs which make them more distinct from the other species of ants. They are found in colonies of about 4,000 and will work together. They usually live between the cracks along the pavement.

How To Prevent Ants in Your House or Garden

If you want to keep these species of ants as well as other pests out of your home you can start with removing what they want most and that is food. Ants can feed well on a very small piece of food crumbs so you want to clean up any food on the counters and floors on a regular basis.  You also want to seal up any potential areas that can be entry points for a colony of ants to get inside. Contact Eagle Pest Services for all your pest control needs.

Ant Pest Inspections, Prevention, Control, Treatment & Removal in Northern Virginia, Stafford, Warrenton, Manassas, Culpeper, Chantilly, Leesburg VA and Gaithersburg Maryland