Ants are social insects and if you see one, you will likely see many more. Each ant in a colony has a specific job and the ants you see on your countertop are likely worker ants. The job of worker ants is to forage for food and bring it back to the queen and the rest of the colony. Unfortunately, killing these ants one by one is not enough to eliminate an ant problem when they have invaded your home or yard. Instead, you have to kill the entire colony, which means eliminating the queen.
Killing the queen ant is not an easy task. These females typically stay in the colony, which is often several feet underground. Many people find they need the help of a professional pest company to completely eradicate an ant problem, but it is still helpful to know a little bit about these insects and how they live.
Understanding Ant Colonies
Ant colonies are incredibly structured. The ants that make up a colony are classified in groups known as castes and each caste is responsible for different jobs within the colony.
Queens, males, and worker ants are the different castes within an ant colony. Queen ants must lay the eggs that will continue to keep the colony thriving. Males, known as drones, reproduce with the queen, but they die shortly afterward. Worker ants are females and they search for food and bring it back to the colony. Worker ants will also tend to the colony’s young and they will also feed the queen and keep her clean. In order for a colony to function, all castes are necessary.
Of all the ants within a colony, the queen is the most important. While a queen can survive without a colony, no colony can survive without its queen.
Understanding the Queen Ant
Queen ants have two main roles in a colony. When they are young, they are programmed to start a new colony. They will leave the colony they were born into, mate with a drone, and find a new nesting site to lay her first set of eggs. After those larvae have matured and start taking care of her, the queen ant’s focus becomes solely laying eggs and perpetuating the colony. Some queens are capable of producing millions of eggs in her lifetime.
While queens do have a royal title, they do not really have any authority over the colony. She does not tell the other ants in the colony what to do, or direct them in any manner. Instead, she instinctually provides what the colony needs, just as the other ants do. While most ant colonies have a queen, that is not true of all of them. In some colonies, worker ants are able to reproduce and they have no queen. Other colonies, on the other hand, may have multiple queens. Regardless of the type of colony you are dealing with, if you want to get rid of an ant problem, you have to eliminate the entire colony.
Locating the Ant Colony
If you are really lucky, you may be able to find the ant colony that is invading your home or yard by simply following the line of foraging ants as they make their way back to the nest. Sadly, this is not always such an easy answer. Even if you see a mound on your property, the actual colony is typically located several feet below it.
Carpenter ant colonies are even more difficult to locate because they are known to make a nest within the walls of a home. If carpenter ants are nesting inside your home, you may not know where the colony is until there is property damage, in which case, it may be too late.
How to Eliminate an Ant Colony
How you get rid of an ant colony will depend on where it is located. Colonies that underground require a treatment specifically made for ant mounds. These solutions usually use a liquid base and the entire mound is saturated. If the colony is very large or runs very deep, multiple treatments are often necessary to kill off the entire colony.
Slower-acting baits are usually required to kill off carpenter ant colonies. Like other types of bait, the worker ants will take the bait and bring it back to the rest of the colony. The bait will then eliminate the colony from the inside out.
Regardless of the type of ant you are dealing with, it is a slow process. The bait collected by the workers must be distributed throughout the entire colony, including the queen, and that is something that takes time.
How a Pest Control Company Can Help
Ant infestations are not unusual in homes, but they are not always easy to eradicate, either. Many people try to deal with the problem on their own, but the solutions available for this are often ineffective. When working with a professional pest control company, they will:
- Identify the species of ants: Different species of ants require different solutions to get rid of them. A professional pest control company will identify the species of ant you are dealing with and know what solution will work against it.
- Customize a plan: Not all pest control treatments work for every home. A pest control professional will work to understand the needs of you and your family so they can customize a treatment plan that will work for you.
- Appropriate treatments and follow-up: A professional pest control company will know which treatment to use for the appropriate ant species, and will follow up with you to determine if additional treatments are necessary.
Essentially, when working with a professional pest control company, they will take care of the entire task of getting rid of your ant problem and giving your home back to you.
Call Our Texas Pest Control Professionals Today
If you have an ant problem, you need to eliminate the entire colony but you should not do it alone. At Stride Pest Control, our Austin and San Antonio pest control professionals will use solutions that are safe and effective and that will get rid of your problem once and for all. Call our Austin office at (512) 777-1339 or our San Antonio office at (210) 547-8410 and you will be amazed at how quickly we respond.
