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While it is true that the ants go marching one by one, down to the ground, to get out of the rain, it is also true that ants will sometimes march into homes and businesses one by one, or by the thousands, to get out of the rain, especially if we do nothing to stop them. Here are a few of the ants you may encounter this spring as a result of spring rain, as well as a few ideas to deal with them when they do.
One kind of ant that can quickly become a problem inside homes are pesky, disease-transferring pharaoh ants. These are extremely small ants, only around 1/16 of an inch in length. But these tiny tan ants can lead to a big problem. Pharaoh ants are one of the most difficult types of ants to get rid of, and they can carry infectious organisms. They do this by crawling around in filthy areas, such as garbage cans, dirty drains, and toilets, then crawling on uncovered food, food preparation areas, stoves, and other kitchen and pantry areas. In fact, studies have shown that pharaoh ants are able to transmit more than 12 infectious organisms.
Another type of ant that can become an issue are Argentine ants. These ants are light to dark brown in color and range from around 1/8 to 1/12 of an inch. They have a single node between abdomen and thorax and a bend in their antennae. Argentine ants are considered "massive." Not because they are large. Obviously. But because they tend to mass together and become quite a nuisance. These ants, if they get into a home, usually have no problem surviving, since they feed on a very wide variety of foods.
Carpenter ants measure up to 1/2 of an inch in length and are black or a mixture of black and red. These ants do not fix things but, instead, go about destroying the wooden structures in a home by tunneling and creating galleries throughout. While they don't consume wood like termites do, they can create structural issues when their populations become large enough. And carpenter ant colonies can have as many as 15,000 individuals.
Other ant types you may begin seeing this spring include: acrobat ants, fire ants, little black ants, and the aptly named odorous house ant. None of these creatures are good to have invading your home. If you would rather see ants marching down into the ground and not into your home, reach out to the pest control professionals here at All-American Pest Control today. We have many pest control plans that can take care of those spring ants.