Winning the Battle Against Ants in Denton: Expert Advice on Effective Control

We face battles every day. For many, we must fight our desire to sleep and get up in the morning. If you have children, the morning struggle becomes a war with your children who don't want to get up and go to school. Traffic is the next battle for most people. We navigate construction zones and crazy drivers while we hope to make it to work on time.

Life has everyday battles, so the last fight we need is with ants in our homes. If ants are inside your home, let the pros fight for you. Adams Exterminating has offered ant control in Denton and surrounding areas since 1947. We are a local, family-owned company with entomologists, highly-trained service technicians, and experienced office personnel. When you partner with us, we bring 75 years of experience to provide you with environmentally sensitive solutions for your ant problems.

When you saw the line of ants walking parallel to your baseboards or noticed a cluster gathered around the trash can, you probably ran to the computer to find solutions and found this article. Please keep reading to learn about problematic ant species in Denton. Learn how to identify the ants in your house, why you need to quickly remove them, and get tips to prevent a future infestation.

Types of Ants: Understanding Common Ant Species

There are thousands of ant species worldwide, but they don't all invade Texas homes. Over the decades, we have noticed these ant species in Denton homes:

• Carpenter ants
• Crazy ants
• Fire ants
• Odorous house ants
• Pavement ants
• Pharaoh ants

A necessary component of pest control is the ability to identify the species invading your house so you can develop targeted treatments. To help you in the battle against ants, the following is a brief description of the ants, their habits, and behaviors.

Carpenter ants have a 1/2 to 5/8-inch black, brown, red, or black and red body. While these ants eat carbohydrate and protein-rich foods found in houses, they live in damp wood in the crawl space, basement, or attic.

Crazy ants are so-called because of their erratic walking behavior. Distinguishing features of these ants include a gray sheen on their 1/16 to 1/8 dark brown to black bodies, long legs, and antennae.

Fire ants have a 1/8 to 3/8-inch dark reddish body. Unlike most ants, fire ants have stingers that they use in self-defense and to subdue prey. Fire ants usually create large mounds outdoors against landscaping material, trees, foundations, and other objects; however, they occasionally enter houses.

Odorous house ants are so-named because they produce a rotten coconut smell when crushed. These ants have a black or brown 1/16 to 1/8-inch body and prefer to live around leaking plumbing fixtures, water heaters, and inside moist, damaged wood.

When you walk outdoors and notice ants in concrete cracks or on masonry, you are probably looking at pavement ants. If they invade a Denton home, these 1/8-inch dark brown to black ants nest in wall voids and underneath flooring and insulation.

So far, the ants on our list have dark red, black, or brown bodies, which makes pharaoh ants easier to identify because this species has a 1/16-inch yellowish-pale body with a darker abdomen. Pharaoh ants are more problematic for medical and commercial institutions but occasionally invade homes where they live in wall voids, under furniture and flooring.

Whatever type of ant invades your Denton home, Adams Exterminating is ready to fight the battle for you. Our trained service technicians can identify the species invading your house and will develop the appropriate treatment to target the ants.

Ant Problems: Health Concerns and Property Damage

Ants create many issues when they infest a home. For example, all ants are a nuisance and contaminate items throughout a house. No one wants to see ants traveling across the dinner table, the bed, or along the bathroom floor. When ants get on your body, you feel itchy and instantly want to flick them away. Ants are an embarrassment when guests visit your house. Adding to their obnoxious presence, odorous house ants produce a rotten coconut smell when crushed.

Ants are insects with six legs, a three-part segmented body (head, thorax, and abdomen, two clubbed antennae, and compound eyes. At the base of their feet are tiny claws that enable them to climb masonry walls and over objects as they forage for food. Ants eat anything with protein, carbohydrates, and fat and do not care about the location of the food.

In many cases, foods accessible to ants are in trash cans, compost piles, and other unsanitary areas. Bacteria in these polluted locations stick to their claws as they move through these locations. When ants invade Denton homes, they transfer bacteria to items and exposed foods.

The amount of bacteria ants spread is enough to require you to wash exposed foods and items before using, but it does not trigger a disease, except for pharaoh ants. While primarily an issue for medical and commercial institutions, pharaoh ants are the one species known to spread salmonellosis, staphylococcus, clostridium, and streptococcus. They transmit disease by entering IV lines, wounds, and the mouths of sleeping patients.

Ants not only pose a health and hygiene issue, but certain species can cause physical damage to a home. Carpenter ants are so-named because they infest moist, decaying wood in crawl spaces and basements. Unlike termites, carpenter ants do not eat wood for nutrition but bore tunnels into structures to create nests. Damage from carpenter ants is slow and usually takes years before manifesting as sagging floors, warping window and door frames, and collapsing structures.

Perhaps the ant species that has received the most attention in recent years is the fire ant. These ants create large two to four-foot irregular mounds with multiple exit points in the yard. When disturbed, soldier ants quickly swarm from the nest onto the perceived perpetrator. Once they find their victim, they bite to anchor themselves and sting repeatedly with smooth stingers injecting venom. The toxin causes intense pain and a white fluid-filled pustule that itches for several days. Because of the number of stings a person can receive, those with allergy sensitivities may experience a severe reaction, including anaphylactic shock.

Adams Exterminating provides ant pest control services near you to protect your health and home from ants.