Oh No! I Think I Have an Ant Problem...

Ants may be small little pests, but they sure can cause big problems! While these pests may be small, the numbers in their colonies are often very (very) large. Ants spend long days working to make new tunnels in and around their colony and gathering food to taking care of all the young ants. And while all of this might be admirable work, the problem is they are doing it in your home.

If you are consistently seeing a number of ants moving around in your house, the chances are pretty likely that you have an ant problem somewhere. Ants do not necessarily have to build their colony inside of your home to be a problem - sometimes they simply find a way in and then march all over your kitchen counter as they seek food. But how do you know what type of ants you have and what kind of problems they can create?

Common Ant Types

There are a lot of different ants out and about in the world today. Fortunately, some of the more dramatic ants are not even found on this particular continent. There are three main types of ants that people are usually familiar with - sugar ants, carpenter ants, and fire ants. These are their common names that people use to identify them and which usually call up a specific image.

All three of these ant types can be found in New Jersey. Sugar ants are the tiny black ants that you see marching in lines to and from a piece of food, remains of a spilled drink, or other sugary or food-like substance. They are more commonly found in kitchens.

Carpenter ants have powerful mandibles that give them the ability to chew through wood. They do not eat it like termites, but instead simply carve through to make tunnels for their colony. If these are in your home, something needs to be done because they can do a lot of damage to the structure of the house.

Fire ants are not typically found in homes, but rather in colonies outside. These ants can get very aggressive when they feel threatened, and their stings are painful. They actually hold on with their mandibles and then sting their prey or threat to the colony. They can be very dangerous to pets and children.

Get Them Out!

Whether the ants are in your home or not, you can always contact a professional New Jersey pest control company like Ross Environmental Solutions to take care of the issue. They will identify the type of ant, discover where the colony is, and take measures to ensure you never have to worry about them again.