EnGedi Pest Control

Ants     

Ants are the most common pest problem reported. These tiny scavengers will enter your home or business looking for moisture and an accessible food source. Sometimes even rotting or damp wood that has mold damage can attract ants. Most, but not all ants feed on most kinds of sweets. They also feed on cheese, meats, vegetables, grease, peanut butter, and dead insects.

Ants often enter a home through cracks around windows or doors, but may also be able to get in through holes for wires. Once inside, the growing ant colony can become a problem quickly as ants mature from juvenile to adult within a matter of days.

There are thousands of species of ants, but we will look at the most commonly found species in the United States. It will be necessary to properly identify the ant species that you have before an effective means can be used to get rid of them, this is why it is often nessasary to hire a trained professional to exterminate.



Red Imported Fire Ants - vary in size from 1/8" to 3/8", make large mounds for nests; give a painful sting. They will enter a building through cracks and holes.



Pavement Ants - about 1/8" long; make their nests in cracks in pavement; can infest a building.



Pharaoh Ants - about 1/16" long; are commonly found in hospitals, nursing homes, restaurants, apartment buildings, etc.; are capable of transmitting Staphylecoccus and Psuedomonas infections in a hospital setting.



Carpenter Ants - are about 5/8" long, make burrows in damp wood, but can go from there to damage solid wood. They do not eat the wood, but simply remove it for nests. They can cause extinsice damage to the structure and foundation of your home and cause expensive repairs. 



Raspberry Ants - aka Crazy Ants  Appearance of many (millions) of uniformly-sized 1/8 inch long, reddish-brown ants in the landscape; foraging occurs indoors from outdoor nests.crazy ants do not have stingers. In place of a stinger, worker ants possess an acidopore on the end of the gaster (abdomen), which can excrete chemicals for defense or attack. They are capable of biting, and when bitten, they cause a minute pain that quickly fades.In areas infested by the crazy ant, large numbers of ants have accumulated in electrical equipment, causing short circuits and clogging switching mechanisms resulting in equipment failure 



Leaf-Cutting Ant -In a 1981 survey of forestry industry within East Texas the Texas leaf-cutting and was rated third in relative pest importance, exceeded only by the southern pine beetle and fusiform rust. In an average year in East Texas, this ant kills pine seedlings on nearly 12,000 acres, and control and seedling replacement costs average $2.3 million. This insect also can be a considerable pest in residential areas within its range by foraging on ornamental shrubs, rose bushes, fruit trees or in gardens. Harvested plant material is used to cultivate a fungus which serves as the ants’ principal food source. Leaf-Cutting ants considered among the most destructive insects of plants in the tropical and subtropical Americas. Leaf-cutting ants are generally confined to well-drained, deep sandy soils. 



Harvester Ants - .This is a red colored ant that can be 6.5 to 10 mm long. Galleries have been found to go over 600 cm deep.The red harvester ants can be aggressive. They deliver a painful sting. Sometimes, the stings of harvester ants can cause allergic reactions, especially to those sensitive to their venom. Aside from their powerful stings, harvester ants also bite viciously. Harvester ants prefer not to invade houses and buildings, but will establish their nests around gardens or yards, often destroying vegetation.



Ants with wings can often be mistaken for termites - which may lead to a wrong treatment. Ants have a very narrow thorax (mid-section), while termites' bodies are more uniform.

Treatment is best when it is performed near the nest - instead of being widely applied. We are ready to come and evaluate the extent of your ant problem and can give you a free estimate. We use a minimum amount of the correct treatment designed for a particular type of insect - to give you the fastest and best results possible.