Saturday, March 10th, 2012 by Brandon Runyon
Part 1 in a 4 part series on ants
How can we tell it’s spring in southern Indiana and western Kentucky?
Our calls to help people with ant infestations increase. Someone walks into a darkened kitchen, turns on the light, and discovers ants all over the counter or crawling out of the dishwasher.
With an on staff entomologist who is an expert in ant control, Swat Pest applies science to pest control to get rid of ants in the kitchen, the bathroom, the shower, or wherever else they appear.
Ants love urban and suburban habitats because food supplies and nesting locations are easier for them to find than they once were in forests. In a forest, an ant colony can have 500 ants and a single queen. Super colonies in cities are much larger. At Purdue University, in West LaFayette, Indiana, Grzegorz Buczkowski found a supercolony of odorous ants with 5 million workers and 25,000 queens – it covers the size of a city block.
What do ant supercolonies mean for the home or business owner?
Bottom line – a surface treatment for ant infestations is not going to help you long term when there is a supercolony of ants in the backyard of your neighbor at the end of the block. They could be under a wood pile or weed barrier.
What a pest control professional brings to the battle against the ant super colony is an understanding of ant species – and how to best eliminate them.
Week 2 in Series – Odorous, Carpenter, and Pharaoh Ants – Oh My!
Week 3 in Series – 3 Ways to Kill Ants with Their Food