Ants
What types of ants are common in South Carolina?
There are many different species of ants that can be found living, breeding, feeding, and invading properties in Lexington, Columbia, and Midland of South Carolina. Some helpful information about the most common ant species in our area as well as some useful prevention tips and professional advice on dealing with them is listed below!
Helpful Ant Articles
Argentine Ants
One of the easiest ways to identify Argentine ants is not by their appearance, but by their massive colony size. A single colony can be comprised of hundreds of thousands of workers and hundreds of queens. These ants are typically found nesting outside.
When the weather becomes too harsh, too wet, or too dry for their liking, Argentine ants move inside homes and other buildings. They travel together in long lines along fence lines, tree branches, or utility wires to gain access to buildings. Argentine ants are attracted to areas of high moisture, and their presence inside a home can indicate a moisture issue somewhere within the home.
Adult Argentine ants are a smaller species of ant. They are shiny and dark brown to black in color. These ants can also be identified by a musty odor that they give off when crushed.
Pavement Ants
As their name suggests, pavement ants are typically found living outside. They nest in cracks and crevices found in pavement and driveways, and under or along foundations, concrete slabs, or sidewalks. These ants are particularly problematic inside homes that have stone foundations or dirt basements.
Adult pavement ants range in color from dark brown to black. The pavement ant’s head and thorax have grooved, parallel lines and the thorax has a pair of small spines extending from its rear end.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are large and destructive. They have the ability to damage wood, causing structural damage inside a home or other building where they have built their nest. These large ants are black, red, yellowish, or a combination of all the colors.
Workers have large, powerful mandibles which they use to tunnel through wood they have invaded to create satellite nesting areas. Carpenter ants are attracted to wood that is rotting or that has been previously damaged by water. A mature carpenter ant colony may have over 10,000 workers living in it.
Red Imported Fire Ants
Red imported fire ants are not native to the United States. They were introduced from South America. Red imported fire ants are an invasive species, and they have no known predators to help control their numbers. They are small to medium-sized ants and are a dark, reddish-brown in color.
Red imported fire ants are extremely aggressive and attack together in large groups. They will attack anything they view as a threat to themselves or their nest, whether it is people, children, pests, or machinery.
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How do you prevent ants?
The ant is a very common household pest. It may be necessary to put a home pest control program into place in order to protect your home from ants and other common pests. The following tips can help prevent problems with ants in and around your South Carolina home:
- Inspect the exterior of your home, foundation, siding, windows, doors, and any areas where utilities enter your home; any gaps, cracks or crevices you find should be repaired using silicone caulk, weather stripping, or door sweeps to eliminate potential entry points.
- Reduce areas of moisture around your home.
- Repair leaky faucets, fixtures, and pipes found inside or outside your home.
- Remove water-damaged structural wood from your home.
- Make sure that outdoor trash cans have tight-fitting or locking lids on them; ants love to forage for food in open trash containers
- Trim trees, bushes, and other landscaping away from the outside of your home.
- Place a stone or crushed rock barrier between any mulch or grass and the foundation of your home.
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How do you eliminate problems with ants?Ants are difficult pests to eliminate. To discover where, how, and why they are entering your home, you need to get to the root of the infestation. You may be tempted to take care of the problem yourself, but DIY ant solutions purchased from big box stores cannot provide the answers you need.
To completely eliminate an ant colony from your home and property, the best option is to contact an ant control professional, like the reliable South Carolina exterminators at The Original Bugman Elimination, Inc.! A professional can provide accurate identification and inspection services. They can also offer treatment solutions that get to the root of the ant infestation, completely eliminating the ants causing problems in your home or on your property and preventing their return.
At The Original Bugman Pest Elimination, Inc. we offer reliable and highly-effective ant control services in Lexington, Columbia and throughout the Midlands of South Carolina. Our Quarterly Home Protection Plan works to solve problems you may be experiencing with ants and other common house-invading pests. To learn more about our effective ant control services or to get started with our services today, reach out to us to schedule an appointment! -
Are ants dangerous?
Whether or not an ant is considered dangerous depends on the exact species to which you are referring. Red imported fire ants, for example, are considered to be extremely dangerous. Their stings are painful, and if their victim suffers an allergic reaction, their venom can trigger an anaphylactic response in a person or pet, requiring immediate medical attention. Carpenter ants are also considered to be a dangerous pest. However, they are not a danger to people, instead, they cause significant and costly damage to homes and other structures where they choose to build their nests.
Argentine ants, pavement ants, and odorous house ants are typically considered to be nuisance ants. Nuisance ants tend to cause no real health risks to people or damage to structures. However, their presence should not be tolerated in your home. They can carry bacteria on their legs and body, making the introduction of this bacteria into your home very likely. These nuisance ants also often contaminate food sources.
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