Pest Identification for insects in Southwestern PA
ANTS
Acrobat Ants
The Acrobat Ant receives its name from raising its abdomen over its thorax and head when
threatened, showing an extreme act of flexibility.
Size: 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long
Color: Black to light brown
Activity/ Behavior: When inside of a home, these ants will feed on sweets and foods that are high in protein. When disturbed, these ants will give off a terrible odor and have been known to bite.
Where They Live: Acrobat Ants tend to nest inside of your wall voids, baseboards, or door and window framing. They will gravitate towards a moist environment or a previously infested spot by another insect to nest in.
Tips For Control: The first and most important step is a thorough investigation and identification process. There are many options for nest removal. Contact a professional as soon as possible who will perform the latest and most effective removal techniques.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: Sean Rock can give you an investigation to identify if you are in fact dealing with Acrobat Ants. After this, a trained pest control professional will use the most effective of the above stated tactics to get rid of the infestation.
Argentine Ants
As stated in their name, Argentine Ants did not originate in the U.S. They most likely came on coffee ships from Brazil and Argentina during the late 1800s. Argentine Ants however are not that common locally today.
Size: Workers tend to be about 1/16th of an inch long
Color: Light to dark brown
Activity/ Behavior: Argentine ants will follow each other in mass groups to distances up to 200 feet or more in search of food. Like many other ants, they prefer to eat sweets, but they do not have an overall selective diet.
Where They Live: If these ants infest your home, they will crawl into just about any location, such as under the stove, refrigerator, shelves, beds and clothing. They tend to search for moist locations.
Tips For Control: Take away ground clutter in the yard that can serve as a protection for the ants. Also, minimize the amount of watering for any foliage outside of your home, because a moist environment is more favorable for the ants.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: Argentine Ants are one of the hardest of the house infesting ants to deal with. Control needs to be very thorough, and eliminating all of the nests is imperative to full extermination. We will treat all nests by applying sprays and using baits to end the infestation.
Carpenter Ants
Carpenter ants are one of the largest ants on Long Island. Foraging may extend up to 300 feet and, upon close inspection, can be seen on the ground as narrow worn paths.
Size: Up to 5/8 of an inch long
Color: Black, red and black, red, or brown
Activity/Behavior: Carpenter ants commonly make tunnels in rotting or sound trees. Inside, they readily infest wood, foam insulation, and cavities. They prefer to hollow out wood damaged by fungus. Worker ants hollow out a nest, look for food, and care for the young. Carpenter ants feed on sugar solutions from honey dew-producing insects such as aphids, sweets, and the juices of the insects they capture. They actively feed at night.
Where They Live: Carpenter ants will nest in any hollow area or space that is close to water and food resources. They enter structures through gaps or cracks. However, the appearance of large numbers of winged adults inside a structure indicates that the nest(s) exists indoors. The workers push wood shavings and pieces of foam insulation out of the nest through slit-like openings in the surface of the wood or other nesting site material. This material, which may contain fragments of other insects, and structural moisture problems, are things to look for when trying to locate a colony in an infested structure. Rustling sounds in wall voids are another indication that there is a colony in the area.
Tips for Control: Keep bushes and shrubs trimmed back off of the home. Seal cracks in the home’s exterior. Eliminate nesting sites like tree stumps, piles of wood, and other debris. Repair leaks in the home and keep water away from the home’s foundation.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: These ants are hard to control and may not eat ant baits. Experts must find the many colonies and treat them directly. Colonies can be located high in trees or on a neighboring property. A large number of trees and other conditions may create a high risk of re-infestation. Regular inspections and service are necessary to find and treat new colonies as they move in from neighboring properties. A trained pest control professional can help you get rid of ants.
Sean Rock Exterminating follows a strict set of guidelines to ensure your health and safety. We use only products which are registered with the EPA.
Field Ants
The Field Ant receives its name from the different materials they use to build their nest. They are also known as a few other names, such as Red Ants, Thatching Ants, or Wood Ants.
Size: 1/5th to 3/8th inches in length
Color: Fields Ants come in many different colors, including brown, black, tan, red, or multiple colors.
Activity/ Behavior: When disturbed, they can pinch with their mouth parts. They don't possess a stinger. However, when they bite, they shot an acid into the wound making it feel like a sting. Their main food source is honey dew, which can be extracted from different plant sucking insects.
Where They Live: As the name states, Field Ants are predominately located in yards or fields. They tend to nest in mounds they create in the soil, or in protected outdoor environments such as under wood and other debris. They normally don't enter homes, but it isn't unheard of.
Tips for Control: To best control Field Ants, an extensive investigation and identification process should take place. Different forms of nest saturation have been an effective way to eliminate a colony. If an infestation occurs, contact a professional as soon as possible.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: Sean Rock will perform an investigation process to confirm that you are in fact dealing with Field Ants. Then a trained professional will carry through the necessary and effective methods it takes to stop the infestation.
Little Black Ant
Little is known about the Little Black Ants or biology ants, even though they are found throughout the United States. The small black bugs typically swam in late spring or early fall.
Size: 1/16 of an inch long
Color: Jet black
Activity/Behavior: Ants form small craters of fine soil at the entrances of their homes, known as ant hills. Also, ants are drawn to meats, greases, and sweets.
Where They Live: Little black ants nest beneath stones, in lawns, and in dry areas. Inside, ants can be found under the edge of carpeting, in old termite galleries, and in wall voids.
Tips for Control: Ants can be lured out easily with baits and traps.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: These ants are hard to control and may not eat ant baits. Experts must find the many colonies and treat them directly. Colonies can be located high in trees or on a neighboring property. A large number of trees and other conditions may create a high risk of re-infestation. Regular inspections and service are necessary to find and treat new colonies as they move in from neighboring properties. A trained pest control professional can help you get rid of ants.
Sean Rock Exterminating follows a strict set of guidelines to ensure your health and safety. We use only products which are registered with the EPA
Odorous House Ant
Odorous house ants have only one segment. When alarmed, the workers scurry around with their abdomens raised in the air.
Size: 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long
Color: Brown to black
Activity/Behavior: Odorous ants smell like “rancid butter” when they are crushed. These ants’ colonies can contain thousands of workers and many queens.
Where They Live: Odorous house ants often nest outdoors, under stones, logs, and in the nests of larger ants. They can also nest indoors in fall or floor voids, around heat sources (like hot water pipes and heaters, and crevices around sinks and cabinets). Odorous house ants travel in trails and prefer sweets, although they eat almost any household food. They usually invade structures during rainy periods when honeydew on plants has been washed off.
Tips for Control: Though bait traps are available for ants, a lot of odorous ants don’t respond to bait. Homeowners are encourages to keep bushes and shrubs trimmed back off home, seal crack’s in the home exterior, and eliminate nesting sites like piles of wood and other debris.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: These ants are hard to control and may not eat ant baits. Experts must find the many colonies and treat them directly. Colonies can be located high in trees or on a neighboring property. A large number of trees and other conditions may create a high risk of re-infestation. Regular inspections and service are necessary to find and treat new colonies as they move in from neighboring properties. A trained pest control professional can help you get rid of ants.
Pavement Ant
The pavement ant, or Tetramorium caespitum, is a common household pest. They are usually found on the pavement and are distinguished by their distinct segments on their body.
Size: 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch long
Color: Brown
Activity/Behavior: Pavement ants feed on insects, meats, seeds, and sweets, but they prefer meats and greases. They forage in trails as far as 30 feet from the nest. Although they are not particularly aggressive, workers can bite and string. They are slow-moving insects.
Where They Live: Pavement ants nest outdoors under flat stones, under sidewalks, along curbing, under concrete slabs, and many other places. They invade structures in search for food and are a particular problem in houses that do not have basements. Inside structures, they nest in walls, insulation, floors, and near heat sources during the winter.
Tips for Control: Pavement ant colonies can be controlled using ant baits. Also, eliminate nesting sites like piles of wood and other debris.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: These ants are hard to control and may not eat ant baits. Experts must find the many colonies and treat them directly. Colonies can be located high in trees or on a neighboring property. A large number of trees and other conditions may create a high risk of re-infestation. Regular inspections and service are necessary to find and treat new colonies as they move in from neighboring properties. A trained pest control professional can help you get rid of ants.
Sean Rock Exterminating follows a strict set of guidelines to ensure your health and safety. We use only products which are registered with the EPA.
Pharaoh Ant
Pharaoh ants are found throughout the United States and can live year-round indoors. These ants do not swarm.
Size: 1/16 of an inch long
Color: Yellow to light brown
Activity/Behavior: Female pharaoh ants mate in the nest, and new colonies are formed by “budding.” This means part of the main colony moves in masses to a new location. There may be hundreds of thousands of ants in a colony. These ants eat dead of live insects but seem to prefer meats or greases. They also feed on sugar syrup, fruit juices, jellies, and cakes.
Where They Live: Pharaoh ants usually live in areas near moisture, such as the kitchen or bathroom. They travel from room to room within the walls via plumbing pipes and electrical wires. Pharaoh ants are a major problem in homes and institutions, such as hospitals, hotels, prisons, or apartment complexes. They can also nest outdoors. They nest in warm, hard-to-reach locations in walls, subfloor areas, wall sockets, attics, cracks, crevices, behind baseboards, and furniture.
Tips for Control: Pharaoh ant colonies can often be controlled using ant baits.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: These ants are hard to control and may not eat ant baits. Experts must find the many colonies and treat them directly. Colonies can be located high in trees or on a neighboring property. A large number of trees and other conditions may create a high risk of re-infestation. Regular inspections and service are necessary to find and treat new colonies as they move in from neighboring properties. A trained pest control professional can help you get rid of ants.
Sean Rock Exterminating follows a strict set of guidelines to ensure your health and safety. We use only products which are registered with the EPA
Citronella Ants
Citronella Ants smell lemony or like citronella when crushed.
Size: Tiny less than 1/4 inch long. Queens are about 1/2 inch long.
Color: light yellow to a dark reddish-yellow or light brown
Activity/Behavior: These ants omit a smell when threatened or crushed. These ants eat honeydew that they get from other insect's feeding on plant roots. They do not eat our food. Generally, citronella ants make their homes outside. When the citronella ant colony gets large, the ants swarm. These winged swarmers are sometime mistaken for termites.
Where They Live: Citronella ants nest in the soil. Their homes are tunnels or galleries underground. You might find some dirt from their nest because they push the dirt up. You might see a Citronella Ants nest under logs and rocks and beside your home's foundation. You might also see signs of their nests in a crack on your basement floor or patio. If Citronella Ants do find their way into your home, you may have a moisture problem. These ants may nest in wood which is already damaged by fungus or termites.
Tips for Control: Rarely needed.
How Sean Rock Exterminating Can Help: Sean Rock Exterminating follows a strict set of guidelines to ensure your health and safety. We use only products which are registered with the EPA.