Rove Pest Control
in Detroit, MI
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Detroit Ant Control
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Ants can live almost anywhere, and Detroit is no exception. Ants are one of the most abundant creatures on the planet with over 10,000 different species. Within each species, there are usually many different varieties.
In the Detroit area alone, there can be around 60-200 different species of ants causing problems in your home. This can make treating for ants difficult because each different species of ant could require a different method or product for treatment. To add even more complexity, the drastic season changes cause ants to behave differently from where they find food to what they specifically need to eat to survive.
This is one major reason we suggest using a Detroit pest control service like Rove Pest Control to complement and supplement what you are already doing. Detroit ant control can be difficult without the proper products and tools, so leave the heavy lifting to the pros at Rove Pest Control.
BASIC BIOLOGY OF ANTS CAUSING ISSUES IN DETROIT
The body structure of ants is similar to most insects: six-legged, with a tough, outer skeleton, called the exoskeleton which encases its three separate body segments. Ants also have two, multi-purpose antennae, which is unique compared to other insects. Ants have a waist, making them easier to identify. The ant’s exoskeleton protects it from the weather, injury and water loss. Making them difficult to kill once they get into your home.
Did you know that ants are super strong? It’s not just because they are from Detroit either. Insects with external skeletons have great strength for their size which allows them to carry objects that are several times their weight. Because an ant’s muscle mass is much denser and compact compared to humans, ants can easily lift 10 to 50 times their own weight. That would be like an average human lifting a car with ease!
Consider how efficient the assembly lines are at the Ford plant, well ants work in a similar fashion. Ants are social insects that live in colonies. Each individual ant has its own unique job and role throughout the colony. However, the colony works together as one forming something like a superorganism or hive mind where they all support each other for the good of the whole.
Ant colonies include many jobs within the nest, they can contain one or more queen, as well as workers, eggs, larvae, and pupae. The worker ants maintain nests. Nests offer great protection from enemies, weather, and are often placed close to water and food sources.
Ants put family first. This is a survival mechanism evolved trait that has made ants as a species so successful. It’s not about each individual ant and how well they can live and survive, it’s always about how successful the colony can be and thrive. This is another reason why it can be so difficult to get rid of ants when they get into your home.
Ant species can nest in a variety of different places in and around your home. They can nest in the ground, often under concrete or slabs. Some species are found in wood, such as fence posts, dead logs, hollow trees, or within buildings. Thankfully, ants cannot eat wood like termites can because they can’t digest cellulose, but this doesn’t stop carpenter ants from ripping out chunks of softened wood to build their home.
WHY ANTS ENTER YOUR HOME
Ants are always looking to grow and expand their colony, so food is a major requirement to make that happen. Most people unknowingly end up giving ants and their colony easy access to food.
Ants will get inside structures through a variety of ways, but the most common way is through cracks and crevices around your home. Insects like ants can get in the smallest of areas. Most insect pests can squeeze through gaps as little as 1/8th of an inch.
This means even with the smallest openings, ants can get inside your home. Some of the most common areas ants use to get into your home is underneath doors, through gaps in windows and screens, as well as through cracks in the foundation and walls of your home.
Creating a barrier treatment of product around your home as well as sealing cracks and crevices should be a foundation for effective ant control.
Ants will send out scouts to search for new homes, food, and water sources. When they find something, they leave trails of pheromones to lead the rest of the worker ants back to the new found treasure. This means one ant here and there can turn into an army of ants marching through your home.
COMMON DETROIT ANTS THAT CAUSE PROBLEMS IN YOUR HOME
While there are thousands of different kinds of ant species that live throughout the world, there are a couple of common ones that tend to cause issues here in Detroit.
Carpenter Ants
A very common pest in homes around Detroit is Carpenter ants. These are noteworthy because they tend to do damage a variety of wood products from furniture to structures. They are recognized typically by being large black ants, but they can come in a variety of colors such as red, black, dark brown, red and black, and sometimes even yellow.
Although you’ll find carpenter ants doing damage to wood structures in your home, they don’t actually eat wood. They simply create tunnels throughout the wood structures. Carpenter ants eat similar things to other ants, such as sugary food, dry goods, and even pet food.
Properly sealing food containers and keeping your home can be a solid prevention step to take for ant control around your home.
Little Black Ants
Another common ant pest you will need to focus your ant control on is the Little Black ant or (Monomorium minimum). These pests can be hard to get rid of as their queen can live up to a year and produce several thousand eggs in a lifetime, and it only takes about a month for the new ants to become fully grown. This allows them to spread quickly throughout your home once they get in.
Effective Detroit ant control, will take a variety of treatment methods as well as prevention steps such as maintaining cleanliness, as well as proper exclusion (sealing entry points around your home.)
HOW TO GET RID OF ANTS IN YOUR HOME
Getting rid of ants in your home can be a tough task on your own. Most people will try and kill the ants they see by spraying pesticide on them that they picked up from the hardware store. Unfortunately, that is really only attacking the surface symptoms as full removal of ants will require you to get rid of all life cycle stages as well as the queen or they will rebuild and keep coming back.
There are a variety of ways to treat for ants once they are a problem in your home, but the best thing you can do is to take prevention steps to keep them out before they cause problems.
The main reasons ants come into your home are to search of food, water, and shelter, and if you can eliminate those, they often don’t come in or end up leaving because they can’t survive. Sealing cracks, crevices, and entry points, or exclusion, is the best option to keep pests out.
Ant issues have to come from outside of the home, and if they can’t get in to begin with, you won’t have an infestation on your hands.
Beyond sealing off entry points, proper sanitation and cleanliness is another major factor for getting rid of ants around your home. Keeping food properly sealed and cleaned up around your house can go a long way towards getting rid of ants and pests in your home.
Wipe down counters with soap and water or a solvent, clean up spills, take out the trash, and make sure recycling bins and garbage cans are covered. The less access to food, water, and shelter in your home, the better.
In addition to the prevention end of things, another way a Detroit pest control company can get rid of ants in your home is through using bait traps, and spray treatments. Depending on how severe the ant infestation is, some or all of these steps may be used as an effective way to get rid of ants.
Bait traps can be used to trick worker ants by having them bring poison back to the colony, which can eventually take out the colony from the inside out. By using sprays both inside and outside of your home, it can help to kill off any new ants either trying to get in from the outside as well as those trying to leave from the inside with food and water back to the colony.
With a combination of prevention steps as well as treatments from a Detroit pest control service, keeping your home ant free is no problem!
If you have ant problems in Detroit call us today at
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About Rove Pest Control
At Rove Pest Control, we take pride in serving customers and creating long-term relationships with both residential and commercial clients. Listening to our customers’ suggestions and concerns has created services that truly meet their needs.