Ants | Largest and Smallest | Fun Fact Friday

Tomorrow we'll see if the groundhog sees his shadow.  Then, we'll know whether we're in for more winter weather or mild spring like rain!  Or something like that anyways. The number of people calling about ants is on the increase as we get closer to Spring.

Because ants are known as Spring pest because the rains of Spring (also Summer, Autumn and Winter too here in the northwest) can drive some species of ants indoors.  Other species of ants come inside for reasons outside of the weather.  But considering  it's Fun Fact Friday, we're not going to get into the details of why ants come indoors.  We're going to talk about two specific ants.  The very largest species of ant and the very smallest species of ant (according the the Encyclopedia Smithsonian).

The smallest known species of ant is the Sri Lankan Ant.  It is 1/30 of one inch in length.

The largest known species of ant is the Driver Ant of Africa.  The worker reaches the length of 1 and 1/3 inches.

So unless you're travelling to Sri Lanka and Africa, you won't see the largest or the smallest species of ants.  You get the average every day American varieties including carpenter ants, ghost ants (pretty tiny), odorous house ants, sugar ants, picnic ants, etc.

Here is a video by National Geographic on fire ants in the south.

If you're having a problem with ants, give us at Peak Pest Management a call.  We'll be happy to help you out!

Micah Wood
Peak Pest Management LLC
www.peak-pest-management.com
micah@peak-pest-management.com
Portland 503-998-4322
Vancouver 360-607-1933
Seattle 206-790-8285

What is Carpenter Ant Flushing? And Other Common Questions.

So, my wife brought to my attention that when I say "There may be some flushing," regarding ant treatments people who do not work in the pest control industry might not understand what I'm talking about.  Flushing refers to a part of the process with some ant products where ants come out of their nest and die.  It isn't a reference to ants using your bathroom or taking up playing poker with cards in your house.  Depending on the product used, flushing can occur with a variety of ants, moisture ants, odorous house ants, sugar ants, carpenter ants, etc.  Flushing sometimes gives the appearance that the problem is temporarily worse.  Flushing is a normal part of the process and a good sign that the treatment is working.

The next obvious question is-- If the ants are dying because of the pest control products and they are outside of the nest where my pet parrot, puppy, kitten etc can get to them and eat them, will my pet get sick?  With the products we use the answer is no.  This is because we use pet safe products.  The products we, at Peak Pest Management, use for Ant treatments are specifically targeted for ants.

What does specifically targeted mean?  Specifically targeted means that the products either are a natural poison to ants because of their biological make up, or the products are developed using the biology of the ant specifically to avoid poisoning animals and people.  Pest control has come a long way over the years- environmentally friendly pest control companies, like Peak Pest Management, are always learning and developing.  Continued learning is a crucial part of maintaining the highest quality pest control service.

At Peak Pest Management there is a desire to know the most current pest control issues.  We also make the effort to educate ourselves in the most current and most effective and safest products available.  On top of that we read research done by experts within the industry.

Sugar Ants and Pest Control in Spring

Spring in the northwest means rain!  And rain brings in sugar ants.  Sugar ants are also called odorous house ants in the pest control industry.  One way to know if you're dealing with this pest is by the smell given off when they are crushed.  Different people compare the scent to different smells-- where one person compares the smell to coconut; another may say it smells like urine.  Regardless of the scent, an ant that gives off an aroma or odor when crushed is likely an odorous house ant.

Many people wonder why sugar ants tend to appear after a rain.  The answer is simply that the rain washes away honeydew produced by aphids, which is a major source of food for these ants.  They are attracted indoors, out of the rain and often find a plentiful food source in kitchens and pantries of homes.  Sugar ants can eat a wide variety of human foods and are attracted, as their common name suggests, to foods with sugar.  Sugar ants also look for an area to nest and build their colony near food and water supply.  Sugar ants can colonize a very wide variety of areas ranging from under a piece of furniture, under/in a toilet seat, in cracks and crevices throughout a home etc.  Even outdoors sugar ants will colonize opportunistically under a rock, wood pile, alongside another ant colony, etc.  These ants are opportunistic and resilient.  A colony can be tricky to locate and can reproduce and grow pretty rapidly-- a queen ant can lay between 2-20 eggs in a day and a colony can have multiple queens..

A colony of sugar ants will range in size from 100-20,000 so you can imagine that it is probably a wise plan to seek a pest control professional right away to avoid a larger, irritating infestation.  Because sugar ants move indoors with rain, they are a very common pest here in the rainy northwest.  Often people choose to have a regular maintenance program for sugar ants simply because sugar ants are so common in many areas of Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington.  A maintenance program is a very cost effective way to manage sugar ants in the northwest.

While sugar ants do not cause structural damage to a home, they can contaminate foods in the kitchen-- nobody likes to pour a bowl of cereal, or scoop sugar into a cup of coffee with ants!  They can also be an itchy, tickle-y nuisance.

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