Small Ants

The small ant is the most troublesome pest for all homeowners. The prominent ant in our area is the Odorous House Ant. They are found trailing in and around our homes by the thousands. You may see a few at first but once they find a food source the full force of the colony will come in to get as much food as they can to help sustain the growing colony. The Odorous House Ant can be easily identified by the ammonia odor when smashed. The most common area for these ants to nest is in the crawlspace, under concrete slabs, exterior wall voids and the yard around your home. It is also very common for Odorous House Ants to nest under wood debris in your yard or under patio paving stones or stepping stones. The next small ant we deal with is the Moisture Ant which will migrate to the kitchen and bathroom areas to get moisture and fungus for food sources. The Moisture Ant will usually be less invasive than the Odorous House Ant due to the smaller colony size. Moisture Ants can do damage to your home because they will bring in moisture or will nest in any areas with excess moisture problems.

Most of the small ants in our area will range from 1/8th to 3/16th of an inch. Small Ant colonies in our area will range in size from a few hundred ants to as many as 100,000 ants. Odorous House Ants will be black in color and have three segments in its body with one node between the abdomen and the thorax. Odorous House Ant colonies will have tens of thousands of workers and can have hundreds of producing queens. The Moisture ant will be reddish brown in color and be just a little bit bigger than the Odorous House Ant. The Moisture Ant will not have any odor when smashed compared to the odor associated with the Odorous House Ant.

The treatment for small ants is also one of the more comprehensive treatments we will perform due to the fact the colony sizes can be so large. If the colony can be located, treating it directly will stop the invaders the fastest. Most of the time it will be very hard to find the colony to treat it directly so we would do the following to kill and eliminate the small ants in your home:

1. Inject the exterior wall voids
2. Spray the foundation
3. Treat the crawlspace
4. Treat the attic
5. Spray the baseboards on the interior
6. Baiting will be used depending on small ant species

Each home is different so the service may vary a little but the two main products we use are Termidor and Phantom. These are the best products when dealing with small ants as they are nonrepellants and not detectable to the ants. Small ants will keep traveling through the products and track small particles of the product back into the colony infecting the whole nest. The goal when using these products is to kill the whole colony not to just prevent their access into your home

All small ant services come with a one-year guarantee and include the initial service, a six-month and a one-year follow-up service. If more services are needed, they’re included as well.