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Ant Control Directory of environmentally friendly Pest Control services for commercial and residential areas in Southern California.Their Termite and Pest Control Services offer complete Pest Control for all types of Ants including red ants.
Ant Control Orange County

by Barb Ogg, PhD, Extension Educator

"How can I get rid of ants in my house?" . . . . .is one of the most common homeowner complaints heard by insect pest control specialists. Ants invade the home to forage for food or seek shelter or both. This Web site explains ant behavior and provides control tips so you, the homeowner, are better equipped to deal with this pest.
Behavior
All ants live in colonies, consisting of an egg-laying female (queen), short-lived males, and workers (sterile females). The ants you see foraging in your garden or kitchen are workers. Workers that find food communicate with other workers by depositing a chemical message on the substrate as they crawl back to the nest. Although we cannot smell it, this "trail pheromone" sticks to the substrate for long periods of time and helps other ants find the food at the end of the trail.
In the spring, ants develop wings and fly to new locations and invade homes to forage for food or to establish a new nest.
Termites also develop wings and swarm during the spring and look similar to flying ants. Examine them closely to make sure that you have the correct pest! Ants are thin-waisted and have elbowed antennae. Termites have thicker waists and have antennae that resemble strings of tiny beads. You may need a magnifying glass to examine antennal features.
As a group, ants have a wide food range, feeding on sweet foods, greasy materials, starchy substances, wood, and all kinds of plant and animal materials. Part of the reason that ants become a nuisance in our homes is that they often like the same kinds of food that we do.
Pest Control Orange County

Control

There are two categories of ants that will be encountered with an ant problem. The control strategy that you should take depends on your type of infestation.

Ants that live outside and forage in the home.

Ants that live outside will travel inside the home to search for food. Some species may ultimately reside in houses, discussed later in this fact sheet. To prevent both of these scenarios, follow these procedures:

* First, cracks and crevices should be sealed to eliminate passages into the home. If you do not seal entry points, ants will probably find their way into your house at some later time.
* Second, scrub around entry points with a detergent (to remove the trail pheromone) and spray a residual insecticide around entry points.

Bait treatments and insecticides can be used to control ants in the outside nest. To be effective baits must be placed in areas where ants frequent, eaten and be taken back to the nest. There are several different kinds of baits available, and you may have to do a little trial-and-error to find the proper bait. Because the ants must get back to the nest for satisfactory control this strategy may be incompatible with insecticide sprays which may kill worker ants before they can get back to the nest with the bait. The successful use of a bait may take several weeks or more.
Ants that live (nest) inside your home.

Ants

Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related families of wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago.

Red Imported Fire Ants (RIFA) were discovered in Orange County late in 1998. The California Department of Food and Agriculture, the County of Orange, and the Orange County Vector Control District (OCVCD) joined forces in an effort to eradicate this pest. RIFA has been identified and treated in nurseries, parks, schoolyards, golf courses, private residences, and industrial and commercial centers.