Ants

When dealing with infestations around the home, typically what comes to mind are problems with termites, rats, and cockroaches.

However, one of the most regular infestations homeowners deal with is the common ant. While ants may seem relatively harmless, you can easily get an infestation as they subtly start a trail from outside, and make their way through cracks to the inside of your home, where they have found some kind of tasty treat to help feed the colony.

We want to help shed some more light on some interesting facts about this insect, and why you should take preventative steps on keeping these pests out of your home for good.

Interesting Facts About Ants

There Are A Lot Of Ants — While there are a ton of humans on the earth, 7 billion to be more precise, it doesn’t quite stack up to how many ants there are. According to current estimates, say that there around 10 quadrillion ants on planet earth. That’s 15 zeros. No wonder we are having problems with ant infestations on a regular basis.

Ants Can Communicate — Surprisingly, ants don’t have ears, but are still able to talk to one another on a regular basis by utilizing a chemical called “pheromones.” Using this chemical, basic messages are able to be sent by the ants to notify each other whenever food has been discovered or if there is danger close by. These chemicals are released and then picked up by the ant’s antenna, which is a very fast and productive form of communication.

Ants Have Unique Jobs — Ants are extremely social and split up their jobs between different kinds of ants in each of the colonies. Female ants do all of the hard work by feeding the larvae, searching for supplies and food, taking out the trash, and defending the nest from predators. Male ants sole job, however, is to mate with the queen. Queens only have one job as well – laying eggs.

Dangers Of Ant Infestations

While there are a lot of interesting facts about ants, they can also be very problematic if they infest your home. Some of the dangers of not treating an ant infestation include:

Damage To Your Home — Termites can cause a lot of damage to the interior of your home, but ants can have an equally damaging effect. Carpenter ants are able to make nests in wood or hollow areas that are damaged or decaying from old age. These places can be hidden in window frames, walls, porches, and other wood surfaces.

Attraction For Other Pests — It’s easy to forget that ants are actually a very sustainable and tasty food supply for some other pests. Black widow and brown recluse spiders will make a nice dinner out of ants if they find them around, and it might give them the incentive to stay longer than they intended.

Risks To Your Health — Even if it’s not usually dangerous, all ants are able to bite if they feel scared or threatened. There are some species of ant that have stingers and are able to inject poison into your skin. These stings are very painful and can cause inflammation or even infection if not treated properly.

If you are having trouble with an ant infestation at your home or place of business, give us a call today! We want to help you find a solution.