Yesterday, the NY Post published an article about interesting ant facts. Here are some of the facts they listed:
For every one human there are 1,000,000 ants on earth
Ants colonies do not include males
With larger ant colonies, the ants move more frantic and faster because there are more jobs to be done. Much like people who live in the city versus people in the suburbs
Ants are one of the few animals that keep slaves in their colonies
Ants and humans are the only know animals that engage in warfare!
African army ants are the most dangerous species and are known to eat baby calves. The conduct raids that are hundreds of feet wide!
The life span of ants can range from a few weeks to over a year!
A few days ago, BusinessWire posted an article about ants invading homes. Ants love to enter people’s homes, either for food, water, or shelter. Ants are a very big nuisance to people and they are very hard to control since they are small and usually travel in large numbers. People should be most concerned with these four types of ants:
Carpenter Ants: They tend to chew wood and cause destruction to your home.
Fire Ants: They tend to sting when their nest is disturbed and they will likely sting a few times rather than just one. The sting is pretty painful to humans.
Odorous House Ants: These ants give off a foul smell when squashed, so be careful which ants you want to step on!
Argentine Ants: They are known to contaminate food that they come in contact with.
There are some precautions you can take to prevent ants including the following:
Eliminate water, do not leave small puddles around
Here is a great article by Veronica Davis about the differences between Flying Ants and Termites.
Veronica Davis is a freelance copywriter for businesses online. She works extensively with a host of real estate related entities and Realtors, helping them with their website content, blogs, social media and marketing. She currently writes for a Long Beach pest control company and contributes to several sites. She has worked with a large range of clients over the years, from helping small site owners establish a profitable presence online to blogging for Planet Green.
Is it Flying Ants or Termites?
Getting rid of pests in and around your home can sometimes be quite the headache. Flying ants and termites can be difficult to differentiate. If you think you have termites or flying ants, here are some ways that you can make sure you know which of the two are actually invading your property.
Body Shape
If it’s termites that are giving you problems, they will have a body that seems to be one piece or segment. You won’t really be able to tell any hourglass shape or “waist” on a termite. Flying ants on the other hand, will have different segments that make up their body. You can clearly see where the shape curves in, forming a “waist”.
Wings
Both termites and flying ants have two sets of wings. If you look closer though, you will see that either all the wings are the same size or that one pair is larger than the other. Flying ants will have one pair of wings that is larger than the other and their wings are pretty much clear. The two sets of wings in termites are both the same size and they’re larger to closer match their body size. Their wings have more of a milky appearance and you will probably notice a lot of veins.
Antennae Differences
You can also tell if it’s flying ants or termites by looking at their antennas. Flying ants will have antennas that are bent in kind of an “L” shape. A termite’s antennae will poke straight out, with no curves or bends.
These are some of the differences that will help you determine just what kind of pest you’re dealing with. But these are pretty small details. So a magnifying glass will definitely come in handy. If not possible, then you can also take a photo and enlarge it. The last thing you can do is if you think you have termites, look for their pathway tubes. Look in your basement or down in any crawl space to look for brown/tab mud tubes. These are created by the termites for easy access to food from their nesting areas.
Many people are always confused if they see flying ants or termites, they look so much alike! Here are some few distinctive traits to tell them apart:
Flying Ants (carpenter ants):
Body has 3 parts
Antennas are sharply bent
The front and back wings are different sizes
Termites:
Body has two parts, one being larger than the other
Antennas are straight
The front and back wings are the same size
Both pests cause harm to wood and if you see either, contact a pest control company asap. We hope to have a guest post within the next few days to go into more detail about the differences between the two pests, so stay tuned! If you have a carpenter ant or termite problem, JP McHale PM can help. Contact us by phone 800-479-2284, email, live chat, facebook, or twitter
An elementary school teacher thought it would be a good idea to bring an a master gardener to give the children a fun learning experience. The gardener made an ant farm with a jar and sand to foster the ants. Ants that live in an ant farm usual live only a month or two (a shorted span then if they aren’t enclosed). From this demostration the children observed the following:
When ants feel threatened, they hide. One will come out to check if the areas is safe then one by one they will follow the leader if the coast is clear.
The ants will inspect the area before they form their colony to make sure there is enough space and resources.
All the worker ants make sure they give the female ants food so they can reproduce healthily.
Ants make there tunnels by digging with their front legs.
Ants only need to eat once a month.
These are very good observations about ants, and its a great way for kids to be informed of how ants act. Its fun to see ants in an ant farm but the smiles stop once they enter a home. If you experience an ant problem feel free to contact us by phone 800-479-2284, email, live chat, facebook, or twitter.
Today The Durham News published an article about how fire ants are a major issue in Durham, NC. The county’s agriculture department wants to implement a quarantine that would slow down the migration of fire ants to the county. Fire ants are small, red or black, and are 2 mm to 6 mm long. The ants are very aggressive and their sting irritates the skin for a few days. Sometime, in the blink of an eye, 100 fire ants can attack a human who is unaware of what is happening. Fire ants like to form colonies consisting of hundreds of thousands of ants. They always follow their queen and when there is a disturbance to the mound, they will relocate her quickly. Fire ants are more of a nuisance than anything but in Durham County they usually migrate heavily. The quarantine would require all home and business owners to have a permit before moving logs, plants, hay, and soil. If you see an ant mound at your house, a quick solution is to pour soda, gasoline, or grits on it but they are usually ineffective because the queen ant will usually be protected and if the queen doesn’t leave, the workers won’t either. Fire ants can get into a home through the smallest of cracks and will stay in your home if they find food. Here at JP McHale we offer an ant solution in our Home Pest Prevention program. To learn more or if you have any questions you can contact us by phone 800-479-2284, email, live chat, facebook, or twitter.
A recently published article in New Hampshire’s online Sentinel Source article explains how a resident was recently bit by ants and wanted to find out what kind of ant it was. Normally most people think that if they get bite/stung by an ant, it’s a fire ant.
Left: Fire Ants, Right: Pavement Ants
Fire ants are known for their painful sting. They are usually small, red ants that nest in lawns or on cement. Pavement ants are a little bigger and are black. They get their name because they like to nest in the crack of pavement. The resident sent the ant sample to a lab in Connecticut and surprisingly it turned out that the bite was from pavement ants. When you are outside make sure to be aware of all ants. Do not leave crumbs or food just lying around and make sure you use insect repellent with DEET when outside. If you have an ant problem, feel free to contact us by phone 800-479-2284, email, live chat, facebook, or twitter.
