Say Good Riddance To Ants In Your Pasadena Home

There are some people, places, and things we like to keep in our past. Perhaps you had a frustrating experience at a location and couldn't wait to transfer to a new city. Maybe you had a co-worker or supervisor that gave you tremendous grief, and you were glad to leave that job. You may have had a clunker for a car, and you remember when you sold it and purchased a better vehicle. Whatever the case, we all have memories we don't want to relive, and the same can be true regarding pests. 

When ants invade your home, you want them out; you want them relegated to the past. For over 20 years, Accutech Pest Management has provided ant control in Pasadena and surrounding areas. We are a family-owned, local company with highly-trained technicians and top-notch customer service. Because we all want quick, responsive service when ants and other pests invade our homes, we answer our phones 24/7 and respond to your needs. We back up our contracted pest control services with a customer satisfaction guarantee. 

You probably found this article because ants are along your kitchen baseboards, gathering around garbage cans or running across countertops. Please keep reading to learn why just a few ants may signal an infestation, the problems they can cause, and get some tips to prevent a future ant infestation.

One Ant Usually Means More

Ants usually enter homes due to drastic weather conditions for food and water. If the initial group finds food in the house due to open garbage containers, exposed pet foods, or crumbs in the corners, they produce pheromones. These chemicals alert other ants to the food source, and soon, you have a line of ants marching into your house. If you see ants and crush them, they release pheromones alerting nearby ants of danger, which may result in more ants flooding into your home. When ants enter and find a food source, they search for water. If you have leaking plumbing or warm, moist locations, they will stay because they have found food and water. 

Once ants find food and water, they search for locations to create nests. Common ant species in Pasadena include acrobat ants, carpenter ants, thief ants, odorous house ants, and pavement ants. Most gravitate to water heaters, leaking water fixtures, and live behind damp wood in wall voids or inside the timber. Pavement ants are the exception because they prefer to live in cracks in masonry walls, in insulation, and under floors. 

Ants are social creatures that create colonies. These nests consist of a queen or several queens, workers, soldiers, and reproductives. Depending on the species, some queens produce flying ants capable of reproducing. These ants leave the nest in the spring, coast along wind currents, and mate. The males die shortly after mating while the females land and begin a new colony. 

Other ant species produce non-flying reproductive ants. These ants mate in the nest and produce multiple queens. When the colony is disturbed, the fertilized queens evacuate with several sterile worker ants to begin a nearby group. When you notice ants in your house, many more may be in wall voids and other areas, creating a colony. 

When you see ants in the house, stop them from creating or reinforcing pheromone trails or establishing colonies by using the ant pest control services near you from Accutech Pest Management. Our trained technicians can identify the species invading your home and will develop a treatment plan to eliminate the offending culprit.

Ants In The Home Can Create Many Problems

Ants surround our homes and are a necessary part of the ecosystem. These tiny creatures aerate the soil, eat dead plant and animal matter, and fertilize dirt with their feces. Ants also hunt termites, one pest no one wants inside their homes.

Although we need ants outside our homes, we do not need or want them inside our houses for the following reasons: 

• Ants are a nuisance
• Ants contaminate surfaces
• Ants can cause health problems
• Ants can cause property damage

While some of these reasons are obvious, others need explanation.

Ants are a problem when they enter a house. They crawl over people, pets, and objects as they move throughout the house for food and water. The sensation of their six legs traveling across your body makes you feel itchy and icky.

Furthermore, ants in the house are embarrassing. No one wants to enjoy dinner with guests as ants walk across the table. We are appalled when a visitor has to flick ant off clothing while sitting on the couch. A common ant species in Maryland, the odorous house ant, adds to the nuisance factor by releasing a rotten coconut smell when crushed. If for no other reason, we want ants to be gone because they embarrass us.

As if embarrassment weren't enough, ants do not need to be inside homes because they contaminate surfaces. At the end of each of their six feet are claws. These appendages enable ants to scale vertical masonry walls and climb over surfaces. Ants do not discriminate where they travel and forage, and since dead insects and plant matter are often in unsanitary locations, ants move through those areas. As they crawl over polluted surfaces, bacteria stick to their claws. When they enter a Pasadena home, the bacterium transfers and contaminates surfaces. For this reason, you must wash exposed fruits and clean countertops and other items when ants are inside your house. 

Fortunately, most ants do not spread diseases throughout a home like cockroaches unless you have pharaoh ants. These pale yellowish ants with darker abdomens are known to spread salmonellosis, staphylococcus, clostridium, and streptococcus, particularly in medical facilities where they walk over open wounds and infiltrate IVs. 

Although other ant species do not transmit disease, many will bite when threatened. Most bites produce a temporary stinging sensation like a bee sting and have no long-lasting repercussions. Acrobat ants, another species in many Pasadena homes, bite when disturbed. 

Carpenter ants are another ant species in our area. As their name suggests, these ants infiltrate damp wood to create nests. Unlike termites, they do not eat wood but bore smooth tunnels deep into timber to construct nests. Years of a carpenter ant infestation often results in weakening structures in the house, sagging floors, warping window and door frames, and collapsing structures.

Accutech Pest Management provides ant pest control near you so you don't have to endure embarrassment and the risks associated with an ant invasion.