Warm weather causes a whole host of insects and other common pests to become active. With their cold slumber over, pests will seek the three basic needs that they require to grow in numbers: water, food and shelter. The bad news is that the first place many will look is your home or business. Some of the most common pests that you’re likely to encounter are Ants.
About Those Ants
In California, there are about 270 species of ant, but fewer than a dozen are important pests. The most common ant in and around the house and garden in the Greater Sacramento area is the Argentine ant.
As the ground warms in the spring, ants begin to emerge from their winter homes – and often enter human homes in search of food. For most ants, the key to keeping them out of your home is eliminating them in their home.
Ants are among the most prevalent pests in households. Ants also invade restaurants, hospitals, offices, warehouses, and other buildings where they can find food and water. On outdoor and sometimes indoor plants, ants protect and care for honeydew-producing insects such as aphids, soft scales, whiteflies, and mealybugs, increasing damage from these pests. Ants also perform many useful functions in the environment, such as feeding on other pests (e.g., fleas, caterpillars, and termites), dead insects, and decomposing tissue from dead animals.
To solve any ant problem, you need to first eliminate the ants you don’t see in order to get rid of the ones you do. Ants are very social insects with very strict hierarchies. The queen, of which there is usually only one per colony, is responsible for breeding and populating the colony, and she is the only one who can do that. The problem is that she never leaves the nest, so you have to go through others to stop the reproduction cycle.
The entire life cycle of an ant usually lasts from 6 to 10 weeks, but some queens can live over 15 years and some workers can live for up to 7 years! This is where Pro Active Pest Control comes in. We break the egg-laying cycle of the queen ant to prevent further spread of the colony, while in the meantime eliminating the current ant population. Breaking that 2-month cycle is essential to stopping current ant problems and preventing future ones.
The best way to combat the invasion of pests into your home or business is to prevent them in the first place. There’s no better time to start pest control and prevention than now. Pro Active Pest Control is always available to help you get to the root of your pest problems, so you can enjoy your home and yard year-round.