The Best Way To Get Rid Of Ants In And Around Your Marietta Home

Ants are the most frustrating of all pests because they can mobilize an army. You can walk into a room and enter a nightmare scene with ants crawling on every wall, surface, and floor. Even worse, you can see a mass of ants grouped into a shape that looks alien. That can be frightening if you don't realize you're looking at ants! If you're thinking, "No, thanks!" we're with you. Join us as we discuss how to identify ants and the problems they create, how professional ant pest control in Marietta stops ants in their tracks, and what you can do to prevent future ant infestations. 

How To Identify An Ant Infestation In Your Home

We have quite a variety of ant pests in Marietta, Georgia. It is helpful to know a little bit about each because it will help you keep them out or take appropriate measures to deal with them when they get in. It is particularly important to understand how to identify carpenter ants as these ants can damage your property.

• Black carpenter ants are destructive pests that damage wood in homes. They are entirely black and range in size from 1/4 to 1/2 an inch. There are major and minor workers in a colony, so you may notice a variance in size. You'll find these ants in logs, stumps, and dying trees. They also establish ground nests in hard soil. When this happens, the ground will have holes and look like Swiss cheese. 
• Fire ants are "biting" pests. While referred to as bites, fire ants actually use a stinger to cause painful, itchy wounds. Depending on the species, they may be entirely red or red with black abdomens. These ants will create mounds of excavated soil in your yard.
• Pavement ants are annoying ants that create nests next to or underneath hard objects. A worker ant of this species is 3/16 of an inch in length, making it difficult to distinguish them from other tiny ants. You may be able to identify pavement ants by their black coloration, tiny size, and creation of tiny mounds near hard materials.
• Odorous house ants are stinky pests. When crushed, they create an odor that resembles a rotting coconut. Yuck. Along with the smell, you may be able to distinguish these ants by their dark brown or black coloration and their small size. Odorous house ant workers are about 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long and all the workers are the same size.
• Crazy ants are aptly named. They run in a crazy pattern and when they enter your yard by the millions, you're likely to say, "Crazy..." These ants can swarm together into biomass blobs like nothing you've ever seen in your life. Each ant is about 1/8 of an inch long. 
• Argentine ants play well together and are known for making supercolonies. Workers are about 1/8 of an inch long and light or dark brown.
• Thief ants are super tiny. Workers are a mere 1/32 of an inch long. If you see little specks that are yellowish or brown, you're probably looking at thief ants. These ants come into your home looking for oily foods and grease. Clean and degrease your oven and countertops and you might make these ants disappear.
• Pharaoh ants are dirty ants that are known to spread diseases. They are small, light yellow to red-colored ants. Each worker is about 1/12 of an inch in length.  

How is that for a round-up? Now that you know a little bit about each of these types of ants, let's discuss what they may do when they get into your home. 

The Many Problems Ants Can Create In Your Home