Ant's

The Study of Ants. And Successful Ant Treatment.

OUTSMARTING ANTS IS A QUEEN-SIZE CHALLENGE.

Many ant species make no secret of their nesting spots. Other seem to come from nowhere. They can invade your home or business to the point of exasperation.

You need an expert.
A professional Pest Control Operator (PCO) knows which habits to expect as soon as he identifies the particular ant species that's bugging you. He recognizes whether they're indoor or outdoor nesters. Whether or not they establish a scented trail from nest to food source, or if they find food by meandering in a disorganized fashion. He is familiar with how far different species will travel to forage for flood, and which are attracted by sweets, cheeses, greasy foods, meats or other food supplies. The PCO knows which ants cause problems by destroying wood, stinging people or pets, or by just being a nuisance. All of this is important in locating the nest-bound queen ant. She alone is responsible for sending out wave after wave of the invading pests.

Ants...or imposters?
Flying ants are frequently confused with termites. A PCO can clear up the mistaken identity. He realizes that ants are characterized by elbowed rather than straight antennae. All are thin waisted, and have three distinct body components. The forewings of flying ants are always much larger than the hind wings. None of these traits characterize termites. This page is designed to familiarize you with some of the pesky ant problems you can encounter. It will help you recognize the importance of calling in professional assistance to solve difficult infestation
problems.
FOR ANT-FREE PICNICS, TRY THE NORTH OR SOUTH POLE.
Those seem to be the only regions on the earth inhospitable to ants. More than 4,000 different species have proved they can survive, indeed thrive, just about anywhere. From sea level to over 14,000 feet above. From arctic regions to the tropics. From very moist to dry desert ground. Ants protect themselves from the climate and their natural enemies by living in the ground, or inside trees or buildings.
More ants than anything.
By establishing colonies in every type of soil, ants have managed to produce a population that outnumbers every other insect on earth. What's more, except for male ants, whose time runs out once they mate, ants outlive most other insects. Some queen ants can live for up to 15 years. Some are known to lay tens of thousands of eggs in a lifetime. However, workers tend to live a few months.
Ants need space and they won't hesitate to claim it, even if it happens to be yours. They'll nest in the best kept lawns, parks, and golf courses for as long as they're tolerated.

SOME SETTLE IN FOR YEARS IF YOU LET THEM.
Rome wasn't built in a day. And neither are ant colonies. It usually takes ants years just to get firmly established. But once that's accomplished, some colonies can survive for as long as 30 or 40 years. Sometimes the original queen will be replaced many times over. What's more, adult ants whose colonies are disturbed simply shift housing arrangements by carrying eggs, larvae and pupae to a safer
location.

WHAT'S SAFE? THERE'S A SPECIES TO RUIN JUST ABOUT ANYTHING.
How it all begins. A colony starts when a newly fertilized queen digs a hole, then seals it off and remains a voluntary prisoner. Eggs grow within her body for weeks, even months. Once the first eggs are laid and hatched, the queen nourishes the emerging larvae with her saliva until they can reach the pupae stage. The first worker ants emerge from pupa cases 6 to 8 weeks after the eggs were laid. Being poorly nourished, they're abnormally small. But they're important for development of the colony because they're the first to go out foraging for food for the queen and all the ants to come. No small task -- since the queen keeps right on laying eggs all her life.

How far it can go.
Left alone, Pharaoh Ants can build up colonies of 300,000 or more. They can achieve such a head count because it is not uncommon for a colony to have several queens. Also, their nests are often hard to find. Pharaoh Ants frequently live indoors, nesting between walls in subfloor areas, above ceilings or behind baseboards. They are a major problem in institutions -- especially hospitals, where they have been found infesting patients' dressings, and are suspected of transmitting germs by contact. They're one of the smallest and most prolific ant pests found throughout the U.S. and Canada. Talk about spoilers. What ants won't eat, they weaken, destroy or contaminate. And what they do eat
is almost everything consumed by humans, plus a whole lot more.

Carpenter Ants have replaced termites as the major destroyers of wood in some areas. The immense galleries they excavate in trees and building sometimes cause significant structural damage before anyone knows they're around. What's more, an entire colony will sometimes migrate from one nesting site to another and start the destruction all over again. The good news: sooner or later they give away the location of their nest with piles of coarse sawdust. Faint rustling sounds in walls, floors and woodwork are another clue.
Insiders, outsiders or both.
More than 20 ant species invade homes. Among them are tiny Thief Ants that sometimes go undetected for weeks. They earn their title by feeding off the larvae of other ant species. Commonly seen around the kitchen sink or pantry, they go for cheeses, greasy foods, meats and sometimes sweets.

Argentine Ants are among the many species who like honey, syrups and jellies. They're also meat eaters. And outside they can severely damage orchard crops.

Fire ants are named for their fiery pain they inflict on people, pets, chickens and other farm animals. The sting can result in severe aching and itching for up to three days -- and can make it virtually impossible for field workers to stay on the job. Fire Ants are also responsible for serious crop damage -- and for building huge mounds that are eyesores in lawns and detrimental to field cultivation

Many different species of yard ants injure plants by tunneling around roots, causing them to dry out.

NO ANT IS SAFE FROM PCO APPLICATIONS.
There are measures you can take to minimize the likelihood of an ant invasion in the kitchen, wiping up spills and putting food away immediately in sealed containers helps. Keeping your home dry and well ventilated will discourage dreaded Carpenter Ants from entering. When ants do get in, insecticides applied along baseboards or around foundations can provide some temporary relief. But ants seldom carry enough insecticide back to the nest to kill the queen -- so the
nest must be located and the colony destroyed
PCO Applications
Your Pest Control Operator knows where to look. And how to fight with the best products available from DowElanco. Though deadly effective against all kinds of ants, they offer a very low hazard to people or pets. Those insecticides keep working for weeks. This residual control means fewer repeat treatments even in heavily infested areas where you expect new ant colonies to keep plaguing you.
Your PCO has an arsenal that can stop the ant invasion.

Pharaoh Ant Control:

Baits are the way to go when controlling Pharaoh ants. Conventional "sprays" causes the ants to bud and spread to more apartments. But, did you know that baits (hydramethylnon) alone will rapidly (within three weeks) knock out a localized colony and this may be too quick. The area can be reinvaded by adjacent colonies. IGR bait will rapidly reduce the larvae, but the workers are not affected. This allows the workers to spread the bait to a wider zone. Consider baiting with growth regulators outdoors and non-growth regulators indoors.

DESCRIPTION:
These light brown ants are about 1/8 inch long or less.
These small ants rarely produce swarmers or winged forms.
They establish small to large nests indoors, and are common throughout the year.
BIOLOGY:

(Monomorium pharaonis) Colonies may consist of a few hundred to thousands of workers and queens. They are often located in many sites
throughout the infested structure. These ants will feed on a variety of foods, but seem to prefer meat and grease, and forage during the day and night.
SOLUTION:

Spraying for these ants should not be done because it only fragments the
colonies and worsens the problem. Baits placed in all locations that the
ants have been seen is the best strategy, but baiting may take several months to achieve control.

Velvet Ant

Scientific name: Dasymutilla occidentalis (Linnaeus)
(Hymenoptera: Mutillidae)

Facts: Velvet ants get their name from the appearance of the females, which
look like densely hairy ants. They are actually wingless wasps, not true ants.
Most velvet ants are black and red. The females are very capable stingers and should be handled with care. Some sting so painfully that they are referred to as "cow killers."
For more information contact Alley's Pest Control!

Alley's Termite & Pest Control
POB 181741. Arlington, TX 76096
(817) 467.0331
Ant education click here

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