Ant Pest Control

Pharoah ants are small, approximately 2mm long. They are yellow to light brown in color. Pharoah ants have poor eyesight.

The full life cycle of Pharoah ants takes about 42 days. Queens often lay 12 eggs at a time but can potentially lay as many as 400. Queens only live for 4-12 months. Workers live for a couple of months and usually die soon after mating.

Pharaoh ants eat food of all types, especially sweets. They will also eat other insects,baked goods, sugar, jellies, syrup, honey, fruit juice, soft drinks, grease, starch, dead insects and even shoe polish, silk, rayon and rubber

The Pharaoh ant colony consists of queens, males and workers.Pharaoh ants have large colonies and they are easy to spot but very difficult to locate their nests.

Pharaoh Ants like to nest in warm areas. Their nests are usually hidden, and can forage far away from the nest with trails marked by trail pheromones.

Pharaoh ants spread pathogens which include salmonella and Streptococcus. Pharaoh ants are particularly dangerous in hospitals because they contaminate patient wounds.

Argentine ants are wingless worker ants, which are 1/12 to 1/8 cm long. They are light to dark brown in color with a single node in the waist. The Argentine queen ant is 1/6 to ¼ cm long. The colony tends to travel in trails.

The entire life cycle of the Argentine ant from egg to adult takes 2 to 3 months. As adults, Workers live a month or more. Queens live up to 10 years. Larvae emerge approximately 28 days later. The larval stage lasts from 11 to 60 days, followed by a pupal stage of 10 to 25 days.

Argentine Ants prefer sweet foods and are often found tending aphids or scale insects on plants, using them as a source of honeydew. Even though worker ants eat sweet treats, they gather protein/grease-based foods to bring back to the queens and larvae.

Argentine ants are very dominant and can be very territorial which makes them take over areas driving out any other native species of ants.

Argentine ants nest in cavities at the base of shrubs and trees. Their nests are shallow, measuring up to 20 cm in depth in open habitats.

The biggest health risk associated with an Argentine ant infestation is food contamination because they crawl over rubbish bins, dead animals, and sewage looking for food and can bring germs that cause diseases like dysentery.

The Coastal Brown Ant, is a small golden brown to brown in and typically measuring 1.5 -2.5mm. It is distinguished by two raised nodes on the pedicel. The Coastal Brown Ant has a spine on the thorax and 12 segmented antennae.

Coastal brown ants have 4 life cycle stages: (egg – larva – pupa – adult).
The queen can potentially lay up to 290 eggs per month to hatch 2-4 weeks later.
Worker ants live for approx. 1 year
Queen ants live for several years

Coastal Brown Ants are both carbohydrates and protein eaters but do have a preference to oily proteins. They feed on sweet liquids.

These ants are a very invasive breed. They create super colonies and Multiply queens so they can reproduce rapidly

Coastal brown ants are soil-nesting ants that displaces soil and leaves tell-tale mounds of soil next to the nest opening.

The coastal brown ant does not pose any health risks to humans nor does it cause structural damage. The ant can only bite when their nest had been distrurbed and the bite is not reported to poise any health hazards.

Fire ants are reddish-brown with a darker abdomen. Fire ants can range in size from 1/16 – ¼ cm long depending on the species. Fire ants have noticeable waists with clubbed or bent antennae. They are known to have 6 legs and stingers.

Workers may live 30 to 180 days depending on their size and work. Queens may live two to six years. The complete lifecycle from egg to adult takes between 22 and 38 days

Fire ants are omnivorous. They eat meats, greasy and sweet materials. The fire ant worker’s diet includes insects, earthworms, ticks, spiders, arthropod eggs, honeydew and other types of sweets.

The fire ants colonies are set up by single queens -the colony can expand to thousands of individuals. Queens are known to be very aggressive and can violently attack if their nests are disturbed. Fire ants can work together to kill any small animal by biting and spraying acid on the wounds.

Fire ants are mostly found nesting near moist areas. Their nests are not easy to locate because it will be hidden under objects such as timber, rocks, logs, pavers, bricks, etc.

The fire ant sting injects toxic alkaloid venom called solenopsin. Humans, when bitten by fire ants, feel a sensation like when burned by fire. The sting can be deadly to sensitive individuals and small animals.

Queen phenotype 9 mm long, glossy black color but appears to have slight brown stripes on her abdomen. The queen can reach 6-9mm in length and is smaller than a new queen. After a queen mates, she removes her wings and digests her wing muscles as food over the winter.

Male phenotype 3.5–4.5 mm long, slim, colour black. Only produced by queens when the nuptial flights are approaching. They appear with a dark glossy body with a different shape from the workers, almost resembling a wasp in appearance. They have wing muscles which stand out from the rest of the body. They are 5-7mm long and have delicate wings.

Worker phenotype 3–5 mm long, workers are dark glossy black. As the colony gets older it has been known for workers to increase in size over generations.

Major phenotype Lasius niger do not create a major caste.

Worker ants live for at least four years, queens can survive for almost 30 years.

Black garden ants are not picky eaters, they are known to eat anything from leftovers, soft fruits, seeds, to other small insects.

After emerging, the worker ants immediately begin to expand the nests and care for the queen.

The garden ant is known to nest underground under stones, but also in rotten wood, and under roots.

Garden ants can carry bacteria and might transfer them to food or an open wound. Potential diseases include E. coli, Streptococcus, Shigella, Salmonella,and Staphylococcus

Black house ants are Shiny and black in color and are about 2.5 – 3mm long. The antenna has 12 segments.

Black ants have 4 stages of life (egg – larva – pupa – adult). There are 3 different castes of adults: Male: (has wings) the male’s job is to mate with the queen Female: (has wings) until mating. They are the largest in body size. Worker: (no wings) is sterile. Soldiers usually live for about 1 year.

Black ants are omnivores and will eat just about anything, including other insects, sweets, melons, vegetables, plant secretions, and grease.

These ants travel in trails in search of food. They live in large colonies but are very easy to eradicate, as you can follow the trail and destroy the nest.

You will find them nesting underground or in gaps in walls and beside pathways.

Black ants crawl around a lot and could potentially pick up different types of germs germs including E. coli and deposit them on your food.

Pavement ants are dark brown to black in color and are about 1/8 inch long.

Pavement ants live Up to 5 years.

Pavement ants feed on a wide variety of food including Sweets, nectar, fruits and syrups ,Grease and dead insects

The colonies are usually easy to find due to piles of displaced soil on top of pavement. When Indoors, pavement ants nest under the foundation.

They usually nest in cracks in driveways and sidewalks.

These black pavement ants do not pose a public health risk, but they can contaminate food

Carpenter ants are up to 1/2 cm in length. Most species are often black. They produce an unpleasant smell (formic acid) when disturbed.

The life cycle of a carpenter ant is 6 to 12 weeks from egg to adult. however, Cold weather can stretch the development time of carpenter ants up to 10 months.

Carpenter ants feed on proteins such as meats and pet food. In Terms of sugary foods they are attracted to syrup, honey, granulated sugar and jelly

Carpenter ants feed their own by regurgitating food which could have antimicrobial activity which will later be spread among the members of the colony.

They usually nest outside in dead, damp wood, building smooth, distinctive-looking nests.

Carpenter ants can damage wood which results in structural damage. They do not pose any health risk to humans.