Your Queen Creek home should feel like a calm, serene oasis away from the harsh realities of the world, but a pavement ant infestation can make your safe haven feel more like a prison sentence. Pavement ants in Queen Creek can cause many problems if they invade, but it's tough to discover an early infestation, and they're a nightmare to get rid of once they're established. There are always solutions to pest infestations in your home, so how can you kick these pavement dwellers back to the curb?
Interesting Facts About Pavement Ants In Queen Creek
Pavement ants are small insects, only growing to roughly 1/8 of an inch in length. Their coloring ranges from light brown to black, with legs a slightly lighter shade than their bodies and tiny thorns at the base of their thorax. These ants are fairly docile, as they prefer to retreat rather than attack, but they will bite and sting if they feel they have no other option. Their stings leave nothing more than a mildly irritating welt, though, and they don't cause any structural damage, so this particular species is considered a nuisance pest.
They may not be dangerous, but that doesn't make pavement ants stellar housemates. They can still contaminate food sources, and it turns out these ants enjoy a variety of different kinds of foods:
- Greases
- Meat
- Grains and baked goods
- Sugars and candy
- Fruit and juices
- Dairy products
- Nuts and seeds
How To Prevent Pavement Ants From Infesting Your Queen Creek Home
Since pavement ants are so tiny, they can fit through the smallest cracks in your Queen Creek home without any difficulties. This does make prevention a bit more challenging, but these tips will still reduce your chances of an infestation:
- Eliminate any moisture problems in your home and around your property
- Remove wood, mulch, and leaf piles from your lawn
- Keep tight-fitting lids on all indoor and outdoor trash cans
- Seal up any cracks, gaps, and holes around the exterior of your home – roof and trim, foundation, siding, around pipes and wires
- Replace any worn-down insulation around doors and windows
- Invest in a dehumidifier for rooms like bathroom, kitchen, laundry room, and basement
- Store dried goods in airtight containers, and never leave food sitting out overnight
- Sweep, mop, and vacuum regularly
- Clean up any food and drink spills immediately
- Wipe down counters and food prep areas daily
Why Pavement Ants Are So Difficult To Exterminate
Pavement ants invade in large numbers and establish themselves quickly. The average pavement ant colony has a population of well over 10,000 ants with multiple queens, which means they can multiply rapidly. Multiple queens also allow a colony to split in the event of an emergency, so any attempt to eradicate a colony with ineffective pesticides will scare the colony into branching out. It may take them time to rebuild their numbers, but multiple satellite colonies will lead to an even bigger and worse infestation.
Don't put yourself through that kind of a headache. Quell Pest Control is more than capable of handling your pavement and infestation, along with many other dangerous and nuisance pests. Our company offers effective eco-friendly pest control solutions for the Queen Creek area to not only protect your property from pests but also protect your family from harsh and unnecessary chemicals. You should be able to relax in your own home, and we're dedicated to making that happen for you. So get in contact with us today, and leave the rest to us.