Control When The Ants Go Marching...Right Into Your Home

Sept. 18, 2012 - PRLog -- While you may admire the sheer strength and work ethic of busy little ants, that certainly doesn't mean you want to invite them into your home for brunch every day. Unfortunately, not only are they hard workers, but they’re also relentless breeders and voracious eaters, creating colonies of up to 100,000 ants that require a huge amount of sugary sweet food every day. Hungry ants are persistent ants, and that means they’ll end up finding any way they can into your home to see what kinds of goodies you’ve got hidden around.

In Missouri, most homeowners battle the odorous house ant, so named because of the rotten coconut or pine scent they emit when crushed. These little buggers are even more hardy than your run-of-the-mill ant – they can work and breed even if injured, and they’ll create a nest (or colony) just about anywhere they can, including in your home if it’s hot and dry enough outside. They also have a nondiscrimination policy when it comes to queens – they usually have multiple queens churning out new eggs every day, which means that as fast as you squash them, they’re making new little ants to carry on their great scavenging tradition.

Odorous house ants are notoriously hard to get rid of once they’re in your home, so do all you can to ensure they don’t enter. The same precautions that help keep other insects out also apply to ants, including reducing the moisture around your home’s foundation and frame, caulking any cracks or holes around doors and windows, and keeping landscape mulch from touching your home. Odorous house ants are particularly fond of warm, moist mulch, so pay particular attention to keeping that away from your home.

Within your home, try to keep potential food sources tightly covered and food contained to only the rooms that are regularly cleaned, such as the kitchen. If you have children, there’s a great science lesson in teaching them why sneaking that PB&J sandwich to their bedroom isn’t such a good idea!

If you do find yourself being invaded by these little brown or black ants, act quickly to eliminate them – they won’t go away on their own. Even pest control professionals can have trouble getting rid of these tough little critters, so look for a pest control service with particular expertise on odorous house ants. Richardson Pest Solutions has extensive odorous house ant experience and expertise for St. Louis pest control issues and offers free inspections to help determine the extent of a homeowner’s needs. For more information, contact the pest control experts at http://RichardsonPestSolutions.com.