For some, all ants seem to be the same but each species have unique features that help pest control professionals figure out how to deal with them. Sugar ants are a common ant in the Pacific Northwest that every homeowner will most likely have to deal with at one time or another. Understanding these pests will help you to prevent infestations and get rid of them if they show up in your home.
What Is A Sugar Ant
The sugar ant, also known as the odorous ant, is a social insect that is commonly found in and around homes. These pests come from large colonies that consist of multiple nests containing reproducing queens and worker ants that forage for food. Sugar ants mainly forage for honeydew produced by aphids or scale insects but will also go after floral nectar and other sugary foods.
Each sugar ant colony varies in size from a few hundred to tens of thousands making it imperative to get these ants under control before you see them inside your home. These ants are hard-working and have been observed to work even through an injury. They can also tolerate extreme weather conditions making them unphased by Oregon and Washington climates. If these pest colonies are not removed before being well established they can be extremely difficult to get rid of.
When sugar ants find food to collect they will bring it back to the colony to share with the other ants. In order to reduce efforts in food transportation; workers, queens, and parts of the brood are moved closer to the food being brought in. One key factor in finding a food source is relying on older odor trails to lead them back to food. This is one reason why you will see ants coming in through the same areas of your home.
How Do Sugar Ants Get Inside My Home
Sugar ants are active between March and September and October to December. They forage throughout all hours of the day so once they find a food source they will go after it. It doesn’t take much for sugar ants to get inside your home. Getting inside is as easy as opening a door. All sugar ants need is the smallest crack and crevice. This is one reason that windows and doors should be sealed on a consistent basis.
In addition, ants can also get inside your home through your walls. If nests are close to the home or under the home they can easily find cracks and crevices leading them inside to the cavities of your walls. From here they can move in multiple directions allowing them to access all floors. If even the smallest bits of food is available they will easily seek them out.
During the rainy season in the PNW, rain washes away the residues of honeydew causing these pests to migrate towards other sugary food options that lead them into homes. If their colonies are built close to a home they will position themselves in areas of heat where it is dry so that the scavenging of food is not disturbed.
Do I Need To Be Concerned With Sugar Ants
Unlike other ants, sugar ants are not destructive to the structural integrity of a building. However, because they have multiple colonies consisting of hundreds to tens of thousands of ants they are extremely difficult to get rid of making them a problem that can seem never ending.
Noticing ants inside your home is a sign that colonies exist somewhere nearby. Eradicating sugar ants as soon as you notice them will help prevent them from coming inside otherwise you will continue to see them seasonally and possibly all the time while they continue to increase in numbers.
What Do I Do If I Have Sugar Ants
There are many products on the market that can help in reducing or eliminating ants from your ants. Unfortunately, though these products seem to do the trick, they are only taking back enough bait to kill a small percentage of a sugar ant colony. Since ants recognize that something is going wrong with the colony they will protect the healthy ants from being exposed to the deadly bait.
This is why calling a professional pest company is necessary in truly getting rid of ants for good. The ant colonies need to be located and eradicated at the source. Killing ants inside the home only puts a dent in the actual colony. If you want the ants to truly be gone for good then killing all colonies around the home is essential. Early treatment of sugar ant colonies will allow this eradication process to go much faster but if colonies have been established it will most likely require a few treatments.
Keep in mind that new ants can come along at any point in time to establish new colonies. In order to prevent them from building their nests near your home there are many natural deterrents that can be grown around your foundation to deter them. If you do notice an active colony after the old ones have been killed off you will want to address that new colony before they become a problem. Spraying active colonies that are relatively small with a mixture of half water and half vinegar each day until they are deceased is one way to kill them off on your own.
Sugar ants in Oregon and Washington will always continue to be a problem but you can get them under control and use preventative measures to keep them from coming inside. If you have a sugar ant issue call your local pest control company to come out for an inspection.
