Ernies Pest Control

All of these ants species are in the Northwest Ohio and Michigan area.  An ant pest control problem can be a serious health risk.  If you see a couple in your home, chances are good that there is more.  You could have thousands of deadbeat roommates that eat your food and don't pay rent!  At the first sign of ants in your home, a call to Ernie's Pest Control, or any pest control company, would be a good idea.  Ask for an inspection, a professional pest control service will inspect for everything.  An inspection is usually inexpensive, and often is free with an insecticide service.  Ant pest control problems are at the very least annoying and embarrassing, as well as costly in repair.  Some hidden costs are possible doctor bills and your grocery bill, no one wants to eat food that ants, or any pests, were touching.  A possible pest control problem is no time for procrastination, often time is of the essence.  Ants don't take long to colonize, so in a matter of months you can go from just a couple ants on your kitchen counter to a full blown infestation.  If you don't call Ernie's Pest Control, please, call someone. 

Ernie's pest control services Toledo, Northwest Ohio and Lower Michigan. 

Preventive measures you can take are :

• Do not leave piles of clothing, papers or other miscellaneous things laying around
• Regular cleaning and maintenance of your home or business
• When cleaning, check under carpet edges and baseboards
• Do not have dirty dishes piled up and sitting for long periods of time, especially not in old water
• Especially in hot weather, put your food scraps in plastic before disposing of them
• Schedule regular pest control maintenance
• If you see one pest or insect, chances are you are not seeing rest.  A call to Ernie's Pest Control should be made to schedule an appointment as soon as possible.

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Ants Basic Information

Ant Colonies  

• Ant colonies can range from 300,000 to 500,000 in number
• Ants are adaptable and can colonize in numerous environments
• Whole colonies can uproot and relocate quickly if they are threatened.
• Worker ants may live up to 7 years and queens can live up to 15 years
• Ants leave a pherenome scent trail when a food source is found so others may follow it

Other Ant Facts 

• Ants can enter through even the tiniest cracks seeking sweet or greasy substances
• Ants can be found in every region around the world except the polar caps
• Ants can nest almost anywhere in or around your house or building, such as in lawns, walls, stumps, and even under foundations.

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 Acrobat Ants  (Crematogaster sp.)

Characteristics

• Acrobat ants are dark brown to brownish black in color. 
• Acrobat ant workers grow to be 1/8 to 1/4 inch long and have 2 nodes.

Habitat

• Dead or decaying wood, wood piles, under rocks, areas previously damaged by termites or carpenter ants, styrofoam insulation and building voids. 
• Outside they will nest in soil, leaves or wood.

Diet

• Sweets and grease or protein.

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Argentine Ants (Iridomyrmex Humilis)

Characteristics  

• From light to dark brown, 1/10 inch long. 
• They have one node and their antenna has 12 segments.

Habitat             

•  Argentine ants are very adaptable and can nest in any number of places.
•  Argentine ant colonies are massive, they can have hundreds of queens and one size worker.
•   In winter, Argentine ants move indoors.
•   Nests are usually located under stone, concrete slabs, logs, buildings, along sidewalks, or within mulch or potted plants, and any moist soil.

Diet       

•  Argentine ants are omnivorous, they can eat almost anything but prefer sweets, fats and oils.

Eggs     

• Eggs are white and laid in the summer. 
• Larvae emerge after 28 days and adult stage is reached after 72 days.

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  Carpenter Ants (Camponotous)

Characteristics

• Among the largest of ants, from 1/4 to 3/8 inch long.
• Carpenter ants coloration can be tan, red and black and have one node.
• Workers have large mandibles.
• Queens can live up to 25 years while workers can live up to 7 years.

Habitat

• When searching for their nests, sawdust that they leave is a good clue.
• Any building is vulnerable to carpenter ant infestation and damage
• Colonies can contain up to 50,000, and they are very difficult to control.
• Inside they build colonies in wall voids, foam insulation, eaves and crawl spaces.
• Outside, workers hollow out dead, moist wood in trees, firewood, and fence posts to build nests, but they don't eat wood.

Diet

• Carpenter ants forage at night during the summer months.
• Carpenter ants like sweets, but are omnivorous.
• Feed on insects and insect secretions during the summer but often invade structures during spring & fall to find alternate food sources. 

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   Odorous House Ants (Tapinoma Sessile)

Characteristics

• Dark reddish brown to black
• 1/10 of an inch long, antenna has 12 segments
• One node is hidden by abdomen
• Worker ants and females can live for several years
• Odorous ants get their name because they secrete a rotten coconut-like odor when crushed

Habitat

• Outside : mulch beds, in soil under rocks, logs and debris
• Inside : In the walls or beneath the floor
• They are most likely to invade during rainy weather
• Travel in trails, foraging day and night

Diet

• In the wild, honeydew melon
• Prefer sweet things

Eggs

• Each female lays one egg a day
• Odorous ants reach adulthood in 24 days

Colonies

• Odorous ant colonies are very large
• Odorous ant colonies can be driven away by  invading Argentine ants

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    Pavement Ants Pest Control (Tetramorium Caespitum)

Characteristics

• Light brown to black with appendages lighter than the rest of the body
• 1/10 inch long, antennae has 12 segments and Pavement ants have 2 nodes and small stingers
• Parallel lines on head and thorax
• All Pavement ants are one size

Habitat

• Outdoors : Under stones, along curbs or in cracks, warm voids with easy access to moisture and along foundations
• Indoors : In debris and wall voids.
• These ants may throw soil out on top of concrete slabs when inside a building
• Pavement ants swarm in buildings

Access

• Pavement ants often access buildings via plumbing pipes and move to upper floors 

Diet

• Pavement ants are omnivorous - they will eat anything  but prefer sweet and greasy foods, other insects and pet food

Eggs

• Queen produces 5 - 20 eggs per day
• Young pavement ants go through 3 stages and reach adulthood in 40 days

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    Pharaoh Ants Pets Control (Monomorium Pharaonis)

Characteristics

• 1/16 inch long
• Light yellow to red with black markings on the abdomen
• 2 Nodes

Habitat

• Outdoors : Pharaoh ants will nest in lawns or gardens
• Indoors : Pharaoh ants rely on artificial heat to survive, and will nest in any well protected hidden areas with easy access to moisture such as wall voids.
• Infestations are common in food service areas and hospitals

Diet

• Pharaoh ants like greasy foods, fats and oils and sweets
• These ants also eat other insects

Eggs

• Females live up to 39 weeks and lay about 400 eggs
• Workers live up to 10 weeks
• Grows from egg to adult in 45 days

Colonies

• The most persistent and difficult of all commercially important ants to control
• Pharaoh ant colonies have  several million workers and thousands of queens

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   Thief Ants Pest Control (Solenopsis Molesta)

Characteristics

• One of the smallest ants, 1/32 - 1/16 of an inch long
• Thief ants are so small that they are difficult to detect and control
• Antennae has 10 segments and have 2 nodes
• Thief ants range in color from yellowish to brown, and have one size worker

Habitat

• Outdoors : Thief ants will nest in a great variety of locations, especially under rocks
• Indoors : These ants will nest in cracks and cupboards, wall voids and behind baseboards.

Diet

• Thief ants get their name because they will nest near other colonies and steal food and larvae to feed their own colony. 
• Thief ants primarily eat greasy or high protein foods, such as cheese and animal matter
• They move in trails along baseboards

Eggs

• Queens lay 105 eggs per day which incubate for 16-28 days
• Larvae stage can last for 21 days in the summer but can last throughout the winter

Now that you are better informed about the breeding and colonization habits of ants in this area of Ohio and Michigan, you can see that it is important to take care of a potential problem before you have a full blown ant infestation in your home or business.  Regular pest control maintenance is important to insure against an ant or other pest infestation.  A professional pest control company, like Ernie's Pest Control, will come once a month to spray insecticide that is enviromentally friendly and safe for people and pets.  Thank you and have a great day!

Ernie

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