When a line of ants shows up in your home, marching across a countertop or going about their business under the sink, thoughts immediately turn to whether the ants are there to wreak havoc, sting pets or family members or worse. Texas is home to several types of ants, all with varying degrees of threat to your home and those who live in it. Let’s take a look at the potential suspects and how you can tell them apart and assess whether you need to contact a professional for ant control.

“Crazy” Ants

These ants get their name because of their seemingly haphazard movement. They look like they are running around in no particular pattern. When they are disturbed or feel threatened, they get even more frantic.

Pictured above, this species looks a lot like carpenter ants but they are smaller and don’t generally have the dark abdomen that carpenter ants have.

Pharaoh Ants 

These … Read Full Post »

If you’ve never heard of rover ants, that’s probably because they’re pretty new to the United States. They came here from South America just a few decades ago. They have since spread throughout the Gulf states and as far west as California. While they don’t bite like fire ants or chew through homes like carpenter ants, they are still a nuisance.

Rover ants feed mostly on sugars. They live outdoors but will infest people’s homes if they can find a way in. In nature, these pests feed on plant nectars. Inside our homes, they forage for food on kitchen countertops and floors. They are especially attracted to sugary foods, like juice spills or crumbs from bread or muffins.

Wiping up spills and crumbs will help keep these ants away. So will giving your kitchen countertops, stove top and sink a good daily cleaning. But rover ants are good at using tiny cracks … Read Full Post »

Carpenter ants do not always fly, but when you spot a winged version of one of these creatures, it could mean trouble. These pests can damage your home by chewing through a variety of wooden structures.

As adults, carpenter ants are about a quarter of an inch to three-fourths of an inch in length. Their segmented bodies are typically black, reddish or multicolored, and they have hair on the tip of their abdomen. Adult worker ants are usually wingless, but reproductive carpenter ants have wings and can look a lot like flying termites. These winged reproductive adults are also called “swarmers.” If you see these pests around your property it typically means there is a carpenter ant nest nearby. Unfortunately, this might also mean that these pests are damaging the structural integrity of your home.

Carpenter ants swarm when they are mating, which typically happens in the spring or early summer. The … Read Full Post »

Finding big black ants in your home can be shocking and scary. What exactly are they, how did they get in and what are they looking for? Most of all, how can you get rid of them, fast? Unfortunately, most big black ants found in people’s homes are carpenter ants. They’re called carpenter ants because they build their homes in wood by chewing and tunneling through it. Much like termites, if they aren’t discovered and eliminated, carpenter ants can cause a lot of hidden structural damage in a home.

Unlike termites, which also look to some people like big black ants, carpenter ants don’t actually eat wood. Rather, they use their large mandibles—their strong mouthparts that are used for chewing—to build tunnels, called galleries, by crunching up the wood. Instead of swallowing the wood, they spit it out, creating wood shavings that look a lot like loose, shredded sawdust. Along with … Read Full Post »

If you’re dealing with an ant problem in or around your home, you are probably frustrated. What are these tiny pests doing here? Is there something I did that attracted them to my home or yard? And, most important, how can I get rid of them?

Ants might have chosen to live on your property for many reasons. One reason that ants may have chosen your home or yard is that they have found some source of food. Ants eat a wide range of different things, but their food of choice usually depends on what kind of ants they are.

Let’s start by identifying the type of ant you’re dealing with, so you can take steps towards eliminating their food source.

Odorous House Ants

Odorous house ants love sweet things like honey. These are the tiny, blackish or dark brown ants that you might see rush to the scene if your ice cream melts … Read Full Post »