Why Ants Are A Common Summer Pest In South Carolina
June 7, 2019
You might think that ants are common pests in our South Carolina homes because we have food in them, and ants eat food. Right? The truth is those ants don't know you have food in your home until they get inside. So what brings those ants inside? That is the question we're going to take a look at today.
Ant Identification In South Carolina
We have several common ants in South Carolina that get into our kitchens and into our pantries. While each of them require slightly different pest strategies to control, they all get in for one reason; because they can. If you have an entry point in your foundation or exterior wall or a spot in your defenses that could be vulnerable to carpenter ants—which can make their own entry points—you're going to have trouble with ants.
Once ants get into your home, then your food can make matters worse. Food that is not kept in sealed containers, crumbs under the toaster, leftovers stuck to dirty dishes, and other food sources can cause a few ants (or just one) to turn into thousands of ants. This is because a scouting worker ant lays down a pheromone scent as it heads back to its nest with food, alerting other workers to the presence of food in your home and causing them to swarm. This is why you can walk into a room and find hundreds or thousands of ants. All of those ants didn't get the notion to come into your home on their own. Every ant that followed the scent of that first, scout ant, laid down their own scent as it returned with food. It was a group effort.
When ants get into your kitchen or pantry, they are mostly a nuisance. But some ants can be dangerous food contaminators and also expose your food-prep areas and dishes to harmful bacteria. When carpenter ants get into your home, they can be destructive pests that could leave you with a serious repair bill. So it is important to properly address ant problems when they appear.
If you live in our South Carolina service area, let the ant experts here at Aiken Pest Control deal with those ants. With Aiken, you'll get advanced pest control services with a smile, every time. Reach out to us today for immediate service.
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