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Ant Exterminator
Ants are common pests in New Hampshire – as is the need for professional quality carpenter ant treatment and treatment for NH ant species. It’s vital to retain ant exterminator services from an experienced ant removal specialist such as 603 Pest Control.
As your local ant removal experts, we act as both an ant exterminator and ant pest control strategist. Not only do we destroy the ants you can see! We ALSO know that the best way to get rid of ants is by doing a thorough pest inspection and destroying ant nests.
Ant types and appearances vary. Most ants are a black, brown, or reddish color, and have a head, thorax and abdomen, although the thorax and abdomen are not always obvious.
Ant Pest Control: Treatments and Solutions
When any spraying, a common and effective ant treatment, (especially carpenter ant treatments), it is critical to locate and destroy the nest. 603 Pest Control experts treat homes and businesses for ants seasonally using EPA registered and labeled products.
Our customers typically protect their properties with our quarterly pest control service, since most properties encounter more than one type of pest, so it’s more cost effective to ensure protection on a quarterly basis, instead of waiting until there’s an infestation.
It’s wise to approach any unfamiliar pest with care, and consult with an experienced ant exterminator regarding your options for ant pest control. If you need help with identifying types of ants and the best ant removal solution for your home or business, contact 603 Pest a call for a free consultation.
- Carpenter ants vary in size, color, and function: Worker ants are small black quarter inch to three-quarters of an inch long. Swarmer ants have wings, and males and females swarm by the hundreds in the springtime. Carpenter ants are typically black, but can have bits of red, making them appear two-toned. Carpenter ants have pinched waists, one node, and powerful mandibles to bite or sting. Spraying for carpenter ants requires finding and destroying the nest to prevent their return.
- Pavement Ants are very small – about one eighth to one sixteenth of an inch long, and are mostly brown with black accents. They move slowly, so you should be able to see them long enough to spot the parallel lines on the head and thorax.
- Odorous house ants are all the same size – one twelfth to an eighth of an inch long – and are brownish black. This ant species is named for the off-putting odor it emits when crushed.
Each of these ant types exists year-round. They are most active from May through September, and swarm during their breeding season, which is May and June in New Hampshire and the northeast.
How to Identify Ant ActivityAround Your Home or Property
Some practical characteristics and cues to identify ant activity include:
Carpenter Ants:
- Build their nests by excavating wood and creating clean, smooth pathway networks. They don’t eat the wood; they burrow in it, sometimes causing severe structural damage to your home or building.
- Prefer to nest in wood damaged by water – such as support beams, wood decks, and roofing. supports. Frass is the sawdust that carpenter ants pile up from burrowing into wood. (Termites use the frass as a food source, but carpenter ants don’t.)
- Will travel 100 yards or more for food. They eat anything sweet, and are attracted to moisture.
- Have a metabolism that slows down in the winter, when they don’t travel far from their nest. But in the Spring when temperatures rise, carpenter ants travel for water or moisture.
- Can be found around bathrooms, sinks, kitchen counters, plumbing areas, basement sill plates, and trailing into the home from window sills, window sill plates, front stoop areas, and back decks.
- Are black and very large. The reproductive carpenter ants have wings. When they swarm, the wings of a carpenter ant are dark and tinted in color – versus the wings of a termite which are clear. Carpenter and termite seasons intertwine. Carpenter ants have a pinched waist, while termites have a flat waist.
Pavement Ants:
- Need moisture to survive. They constantly search for sugar and protein as they forage for food inside and outside of homes and offices.
- Prefer to nest in walls, under floors, and in insulation. They also nest patios and driveways, under rocks and cracks in the pavement.
Odorous House Ants:
- Build nests indoors or outdoors. They move in trails along floors, cabinets, countertops, walls, and around pet food dishes or other food sources.
- Forage for sweets and honeydew (which is a sweet, sticky secretion produced by other insects). Some varieties are active during the day, while others are active at night. Their colonies are very large with many active queens served by scores of worker ants.
Disease and Property Damage that Ants Can Cause
Ants are not unsanitary pests nor do they carry disease, but some types of ants can bite and sting people and their pets.
Carpenter ants can cause incredible amounts of damage to major support elements of homes and structures. They can cause damage behind chimney walls, and all over a home or building, from attic to basement.
Pavement ants cause property damage by tunneling underneath the pavement and weakening or collapsing it. They also do cause damage underneath patios. Pavement ants are not a wood destroying pest.