El Centro Homeowners’ Complete Guide To Pharaoh Ant Control

Not every ant is a mere nuisance. Some of them can bring nasty illnesses with them and result in far worse infestations than common house ants. Learning how to spot the signs of dangerous ants and, more importantly, how to prevent ants will help you make sure ants never plague your home.

Pharaoh Ants: What To Know

One of the dangerous species of ants in the world is pharaoh ants. No, they don’t cause damage like carpenter ants or painful stings like fire ants. Instead, pharaoh ants are known to carry dangerous diseases like salmonella and ailments like staph infections. That’s why it’s important to be on the lookout for these telltale signs of pharaoh ants, so you can tell them apart from other ant varieties:

• Size: All ants are tiny scavengers and pharaoh ants are no exception. That’s why you’ll have to look for other factors than just size to determine what species of ant is around.

• Color: Pharaoh ants are typically brown or tan in color, with some even appearing yellow or golden.

• Bodies: All ants have segmented bodies, but pharaoh ants have one extra link in the segment that separates their thorax from their abdomen. This “double node” feature is one of the clearest ways to identify a pharaoh ant.

What Attracts Them To Homes

While they look different and can bring far greater problems to homes, pharaoh ants are attracted to properties for the same reasons as other ants. As foraging pests, pharaoh ants primarily scavenge for all their food and the chemical receptors in their antennae allow them to detect traces from far away. While colonies typically form outdoors in the ground, ants must seek shelter from bad weather and predators to survive year-round. This is why infestations move indoors, as ants look for safe places to avoid spiders and cold temperatures. Human homes, therefore, provide them with everything they need to thrive, which is why our properties are such common targets for ants of all kinds. It is important to take steps to avoid ant problems long before they form.

Ant Prevention For Your Home

To prevent ant infestations from forming, you have to address the many factors that attract pests in the first place. Here are some ways to do that:

• Food storage: Ants will take advantage of any food that’s left out (even pet food), though they particularly like sugary foods. They can also chew through flimsy packaging, so storing food in sturdy containers is important.

• Trash storage: The food scraps we throw away are a feast for tiny ants, so you need to make sure your trash is well-secured. Even trash bins outside can attract pests to your property, which brings them close enough to your home to find a way in.

• Deep cleaning: Ants can easily reach the areas of our homes where messes pile up. Make sure you’re addressing the crumbs and spills that might be under appliances and in hard-to-reach corners.

Don’t Waste Time & Money - Contact Experts Right Away

Chances are, you don’t want to get close enough to ants to tell if they are dangerous or not. Chances are also high that, by the time you notice an ant infestation, it’s likely grown too large for household methods to get rid of them. That’s why the best thing for homeowners to do is to contact professionals. Our friendly staff can assist you today with more helpful tips or information on how ant infestations start, and we are eager to get started on an inspection of your home. Not only can we catch the signs of pests early, before they can expose you to larger dangers, but we can also implement prevention measures that keep future outbreaks from happening.

For true protection against pharaoh ants and other invasive insects, contact Imperial County Pest Control today and learn about our home pest control and commercial pest control services.