There are two ant species in New York that homeowners battle in their homes, each with its own unique set of challenges and risks to you and your family. Whether you’re dealing with what seems to be a minor pest issue in the house or a major ant infestation, understanding which type of ants you’re dealing with is the first step toward knocking ants out for good.
Pavement Ants
Pavement ants, or as you may have heard them called, little black ants or sugar ants, are small ants, measuring about 1/10 to 1/8 inch in length. While they’re typically (but not always) less of an outdoor issue, you are very likely to see pavement ants in the house, especially during the spring and summer.
What Attracts Pavement Ants?
Even though they’re often called sugar ants, pavement ants aren’t picky about what they eat. In addition to sweets, they’ll feed on grease, fruits, and a variety of other foods. If there are crumbs readily available on your floors, sticky spills on your countertop, or grease buildup on your stove, to name a few examples, you’re setting your home up for a pavement ant invasion!
Are Pavement Ants Harmful?
Pavement ants are capable of biting people and pets and have stingers, but it’s pretty rare for them to do so. They are, however, considered a nuisance pest because of the nests they establish in homes and other buildings.
How to Get Rid of Pavement Ants
Even though pavement ants may seem harmless enough, getting rid of them can be challenging without professional help, because in order to eradicate the issue, it’s necessary to identify and eliminate the entire ant colony, which can be located in hard-to-reach areas like the insides of your home’s walls or foundation in more extreme cases.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are another major pest issue for New York homeowners this time of year and are noticeably larger than pavement ants, measuring around 5/8 inch long. Carpenter ants are typically black, though they may also have red or brown coloring, as well.
Signs of Carpenter Ants
Unlike pavement ants, which are pretty harmless, carpenter ants will attack the wood of your home, creating small openings on the surface of the wood, which they will repeatedly attack. Usually, carpenter ants prefer to attack wood that’s damp or fungus-infested, so keeping a close watch on the wooden components of your home is a good way to help prevent carpenter ant infestations.
Are Carpenter Ants Harmful?
As mentioned, carpenter ants can wreak havoc on your home, but they also have powerful jaws that deliver painful bites. When they bite, carpenter ants inject formic acid into their bite wounds, which creates an unpleasant burning sensation.
How to Get Rid of Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants require water to survive, so eliminating any sources of water is an effective first step for both prevention and elimination, however, if you suspect you have a carpenter ant infestation, it’s best to contact a licensed pest control technician who can do a thorough inspection and offer professional guidance for how to move forward and best protect your property from carpenter ant damage.
Get Rid of Ants in Your House This Spring
Whether you’re seeing ants already or want to prevent them before you do, Knockout Pest Control’s team of licensed pest control technicians is highly-trained in identifying ant infestations and putting them down for the count.
For a pest control estimate, call 1-800-244-PEST.
