Defence Against Ants in Singapore

July 14, 2023

6 Signs of an Ants Infestation

July 14, 2023

Defence Against Ants in Singapore- Part 2

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Defence Against Ants Pest Blog - Part 2

Defence Against Ants in Singapore

When defending against ants, remember that a colony can consist of large numbers hundreds to thousands of ants. The colony is lead by a queen or multiple queens, various species can have two or up to thousands of queens. The queens lay eggs, thousands of eggs to maintain the colony population. Some species have male ants appoint as drones often have only one role, that is to mate with the queen.

Worker ants are the most visible amongst the colony normally females ant workers that will never reproduce. Instead of foraging for food, they take care for the queen's offspring, work on the nest, and protect the colony. Workers are extremely strong to be able to carry 50 times their own body weight. They communicate by scent of pheromones that can alarm others to danger or lead them to a food source.

These species of ants prefer to feed on nectar, seeds, or insects. Some species have diets that are a little bit more unusual. Army ants possess large mandibles, when bitten gives a painful stings, they prey on small birds, reptiles or small mammals. As a colony, they thrives to multiply quickly in their nesting site that is normally close to food and standing water source.

Carpenter Ants

A carpenter ant colony can have approximately 3,000 workers, but this takes several years to develop. In the process, there may be little or no warning signs of their presence in your home. These species of ants in your home do not require to eat anything from the pantry or kitchen to survive. In United States, they can live comfortably off food sources that exist outside your home.

A workers can travel up to about 1,000 feet or more from their carpenter ant nests colony to find food. If you spot one crawling, it may be your one and only sign of a carpenter ant infestation. Important to know how to identify them by the single node in between their thorax to abdomen.

Size :

3/8" to 1/2"
Shape : Eyes tiny, dark-coloured bodies, narrow waists, elbowed (bent)
Colour : Black or blackish-red
Legs : 6
Wings : Hind wings that are shorter than front wings (if wings are present)
Antenna : Yes

Diet :

They do not eat wood material and prefers to feed off plants like honeydew. And bodily fluids proteins from both dead or live insects. Occasionally, they feast on pet food and water if accessible.

Habitat :

They normally nest in the dead damp wood of trees, tree stumps, damage wood logs, and dead branches. They also nest in building material that are rotten by moisture like homes, doors, and cabinets have become their target.

Impact :

When a carpenter ant or wood ants colony matures, ant breed produces winged adult male and female alate. During ant swarm during the nuptial flight, ants with wings will come flying in group hovering lights or enter your home. If you hear a soft scale insects rustling sound within your walls, you could potentially have an infestation.

Prevention :

Stack wooden material away from the house, keep them off the ground as much as possible.
Seal cracks and crevices to avoid all possible entry points.
They look for water source, ensure to fix leaking pipes on the roof as well.
Cut back tree branches as they grow to touch the premises, it could serve as an entry way.
Do-it-yourself essential oils such as lemongrass, peppermint and tea tree can deter ants.

Solution :

To rid of the carpenter ants, you need to inspection and identify the nest locations and foraging trails. The next step is to determine which control measure to use. Carpenter ants can be control through the application of insecticides and sprays of various kind.

Advisable to call Innovative Pest Ants Control services to inspection and identify the type of ants infestation. A suitable plan will be discuss to effectively get rid of ants problems permanently.

DID YOU KNOW?

Ant swarms can turn into rolling clusters of many males trying to mate with one female

Weaver Ant

Weaver ants, commonly mistook for pharaoh ants are famous for the way they construct their satellite nest. Nest are bind with silky glue-like, from leaves folded or fastened together to form a tent. The leaves are hold together by a silk spun by the larvae which the major workers weaves. Nests and colonies have half a million over workers that spread over several trees.

These slender yellow to orange insects have exquisitely adapted to life in the leafy canopies of tropical forests. Their social unit is the colony, that consists of approximately 500,000 female workers, and a single enormous queen. The caste of each colony consists of 3 forms of adult female. The heavy-bodied queen, a massive population of major workers and a smaller group of minor workers.

Size :

1/8 to 3/8"
Shape : Eyes bigger, head, thorax, body with long legs
Colour : Brown, red, to yellow
Legs : 6
Wings : Male no, female loses it after mating
Antenna : Yes, 10 segment antennae

Diet :

The feeding preferences varies of food from sugar, sugar-free, honey, dried fish, chicken intestine and biscuits.

Habitat :

Like the red ant species, weaver ants lives in several nests spread out through a number of trees and shrubs. Colony can sometimes get extremely large, one tree is just not enough. Resorting to building multiple colonies across several trees.

Impact :

The bite can be unbearable, especially if you walk into the nest and get hundreds of them on you. Most people can become quite hysterical trying to swat and deter ants off themselves.

Prevention :

Seal window, doors, cracks and crevices to avoid all possible entry points.
Caulk around the cracks within wall voids, doors and windows.
Seal utility openings such as wire casings and pipes.
Be sure to clean thoroughly spills after meals to avoid attracting ants.

Solution :

Chemical spray can help to remove and kill ant larvae nests. Various ways to rectify an infestation. We will plan a suitable program to solve the problems permanently.

DID YOU KNOW?

A few Malaysian Carpenter Ant species makes ultimate sacrifice to defend against their attackers

Black House Ant

This species of ant will usually be nest in the roof or walls around house. They can easily access to both inside and out to forage for food and water source. Once inside they will normally contaminate sugary foods and find their way into jugs and sinks to look for water. The "frass" or dropping they eject from their colony is usually a worrying factor for homeowners.

Size :

1/2 to 5/8"
Shape : Oval thorax, two-segmented pedicel
Colour : Glossy black
Legs : 6
Wings : Yes
Antenna : Yes, 12 segment antennae

Diet :

These ants are attract to feeds on alive or dead insects and worms, as they are omnivores. As well as vegetation such as small seeds. They prefer sweet foods such as aphids and bugs on flowering pot plants.

Habitat :

They always built nests underground, under rocks, in cracks and holes of foundation, or even in rotten dead wood. Like the toggle, the table of contents, ants expand life beyond dirt underground, creating a vast path structure. A colony that will expands without any visible evidence to show the severity of the infestation.

Impact :

The black house ant queen lives for about 15 years, on an average. There have been records that shows that they made it till the age 30. This means the infestation is here to stay if no precautionary measure is in place.

Prevention :

Make it a habit to regularly check under the dish washing sinks and avoid leaks in the pipes.
Caulk around the cracks within wall voids, doors and windows cracks and crevices to avoid all possible entry points.
Turn over any rocks, bricks or debris on the ground, in the outdoor area.
To pay attention to the area around walls and walking paths by pulling back the grass outdoors.

Solution :

These insect are harder to eliminate ants species and as dangerous as the damage caused by termites. If you are not sure what to do, facing too many ants in your home, you can always choose for ants control specialist. For an inspection to rid of the problems permanently.