Ants

Ants

We have had another strange year this year weather wise. It has been milder than usual in the summer months, apart from that heatwave we had earlier on in the year. Now we are officially into Autumn but that doesn’t mean that ants will not be making an appearance. As the weather remains warm, they will still be working hard to expand their colony and on the search for food.

Where will you find ants?

Likely places you will find ants are your kitchen and garden. They may nest under decking or patios, and will search the nearby area for food sources. This is why they are likely to find your kitchen pretty quickly. Especially if you like to leave the patio doors or windows open. They are attracted to many different types of food and do very much like sweet things. It is always good practice to clean your kitchen sides and floors regularly, make sure to remove any food debris under fridges and freezers too. They will also eat pet food, so it is also good practice to not leave pet food on the floor for elongated periods of time.

Most commonly you will see the black garden ant. Each colony will have a variety of ants who all have different jobs to do. The queen will continuously lay eggs, which will be looked after the workers. Worker ants will also be responsible for the building and upkeep of the nest. Worker ants will also leave the nest to forage for food. The largest ants will travel the furthest away from the nest looking for food. Interestingly, ants are able to emit a chemical which can signal and leave a trail for other ants to follow and find the food source.

What about flying ants?

We are also nearing the time of year where we will be seeing more flying ants about. Flying ants can be male and female. The flight is so ants can mate and find locations to start new colonies. Once they have mated, their wings fall off and they go underground. They are not fans of colder weather so underground offers them the shelter required to keep them going until the weather gets warmer again.

Ants can become a real issue if they are able to continuously access food sources. It is important to find and deal with the nest itself as dealing with just the worker ants will not stop the problem as they will have indicated to other worker ants that there is a reasonable food source nearby. Here at Devon Pest Control we can deal with an ant problem efficiently and effectively. Give us a call today!

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