How To Properly Treat For Ants In San Antonio

You've seen an ant in your San Antonio home, and now you're worried there may be more. The bad news is, there probably are. The good news is that San Antonio pest control companies like EnviroGuard are waiting for your call to send our service professionals out to help you deal with ants.

This guide will teach you the life cycle of ants, the problems ants can cause for you, five effective ant prevention tips, and why you should call in the pros to help you with your ant problem.

Life Cycle And Diets Of Common Ants

Ants start out as eggs laid by the queens of the colony. These queens can produce up to 800 eggs per day. Those eggs will hatch into larvae, which are like small worms. Depending on the needs of the colony, the larvae will grow into female workers, male drones, or queens. Female workers are the ants you see gathering food and taking it back to the colony. Males exist only to breed with the queens. Queens are the only ants that can lay eggs.

What attracts ants to your home are ready sources of food and water. Ants need these to survive. Some ants are omnivores, eating anything, while others are herbivores, eating only plant matter. Ants generally only venture 30 feet away from their nests to find food sources, so if there are ants in your kitchen, they're likely inside your walls or in a nest right outside your home.

That's why you need professional ant control in San Antonio. Ants breed too quickly for you to handle the situation on your own, and their nests may be hidden out of sight and out of reach in the voids in your walls.

All The Problems Ants Can Cause In The House

The most common ants found in San Antonio homes are pharaoh ants, pavement ants, fire ants, and Argentine ants. Pharaoh ants and Argentine ants are known to spread several diseases, including:

• Salmonella

• Staphylococcus

• Clostridium

• Streptococcus

Fire ants get their name from the burning sensation that results from their stings. While the degree of pain and allergic reaction varies from person to person, these stings generally develop into raised welts. Repeated stings may warrant immediate medical care.

Because of these dangers, you need to know how to get rid of ants in your San Antonio home. Call EnviroGuard at the first sign of ants to prevent these issues from arising.

Five Naturally Effective Ant Prevention Tips

For effective ant control in your house, there are a few steps you can take to prevent ants from moving into your home:

1. Seal all the crevices and cracks in your foundation. Ants can use these as entryways into your home. 

2. Keep tree branches cut well back from your house. If the branches touch your roof or walls, ants can use them as walkways to get into your home through the chimney or attic vent. 

3. Eliminate all water sources from outside your house. Fix leaky faucets and sprinkler systems, take pet bowls inside, get rid of bird baths, and make sure your downspout is draining far from your house by using downspout extenders or splash stones.

4. Keep a clean kitchen. Clean up spills and crumbs immediately, don't let dishes pile up in the sink, and dry the sink after you're done using it. Take out kitchen trash daily, and put it in sealed receptacles several feet away from your home to avoid attracting ants. 

5. Store firewood at least 20 feet away from your home. Ants may use your firewood to build their colonies, and you could be inviting them into your home when you bring the wood inside to go on the fire. 

These prevention tips are just the tip of the iceberg. While they may minimize the chances of ants moving into your home, they don't tell you how to get rid of ants in your house.

Call The Professionals For Total Ant Elimination Today!

If you need to know how to get rid of ants in the house, the answer is simple: Call EnviroGuard today to get your free quote, and to learn more about our residential and commercial pest control services in San Antonio. Our service professionals have more than 40 years of experience dealing with pests like ants and are waiting for your call. We can get ants out of your home and keep them from coming back.