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One of the most annoying household pests that are often hard to deal with is ants. When it comes to the most common ant species, carpenter ants and concrete ants are the ones that you can typically find indoors and outdoors. Although these regular ants can sometimes look the same to the naked eye, they each have their own unique characteristics.

So how do you differentiate a carpenter ant from a concrete ant? Both ants appear to be quite small but they can vary in terms of their color and body. They also differ in their nesting locations, swarming activity, and behavior. Carpenter ants are more destructive and may cause significant property and wood damage, while concrete ants just lie underneath pavements and driveways without posing any threat to your home’s structural integrity.

5 Ways To Distinguish Carpenter Ants and Concrete Ants

There are thousands of ant species that can be found throughout the United States, such as the Argentine ant, pharaoh ant, odorous house ant, acrobat ant, red imported fire ant, and sugar ant. However, most infestations are usually caused by either the carpenter ant or the pavement ant.

These two types of ants are among the most commonly encountered pests in every home. To be able to properly get rid of them, it’s important to know how to tell these two ants apart from each other.

1. Physical Appearance

Carpenter ants can sometimes be mistaken for the little black ant since they can also appear dark in color. However, even if black is the most common color for carpenter ants, their bodies can also range from brown, yellow, dark red, or tan. They’re also bigger than regular house ants and can grow up to 1/2 to 5/8 inch long. They have a smooth, rounded thorax with large mandibles on their head.

Meanwhile, the concrete or pavement ant is smaller than the carpenter species and usually appears 1/16 to 1/8 inch long. Their bodies can vary from dark brown to black in color. When viewing them up close, you can see that they have visible parallel lines or markings on their head and a single pair of spines on the thorax.

2. Common Nesting Places

Carpenter ants are wood dwellers and they prefer to live in moist and damaged wood. While they usually live outdoors, carpenter ants can go inside homes in search of shelter and food and will create their ant colony near places with excess moisture and water sources.

They can also burrow through wood which can damage the structural foundation of your home and furniture. Some of the common areas where you can find a carpenter ant nest are under sinks and bathtubs, crawlspaces, windowsills, door frames, fence posts, and inside tree stumps and logs.

From its name, pavement ants commonly nest near sidewalks, driveways, concrete slabs, building foundations, and under stones or cracks in pavements. They can enter homes during winter in search of food and warmth. Once inside, they can build their nests under floors and carpets, inside walls or attic insulation, near baseboards and hollow cracks, and around moist sinks and toilets.

3. Signs of Infestation

When looking for carpenter ant activity, there are some telltale signs that you need to look out for. Here are some of the common ways to identify a carpenter ant infestation:

It’s relatively easy to spot a pavement ant infestation outdoors since you can see their nests on sidewalks, patios, and garages. Meanwhile, here are some of the signs that you have a pavement ant problem indoors:

4. Reproduction and Swarming Behavior

Most species of ants are active in warmer months, while they remain dormant and hide in their nests during the winter season. But if they find a good food source and place to build a satellite nest inside your home, you may find yourself with an ant infestation during cold months.

Both carpenter and concrete ants typically swarm in spring or early summer when you can find large groups of flying ants coming out from their nest. These winged ants are the reproductives that will mate and pair off to find a new suitable nesting location.

Carpenter ant queens can lay about 15 to 20 eggs, while pavement ant queens can produce up to 40 eggs at a time. These eggs will grow to become adult worker ants whose job is to forage for food and sustain the colony.

5. Potential to Cause Structural Damage and Bites

Carpenter ants are more dangerous and destructive than concrete ants. Like subterranean termites, a carpenter ant can cause extensive wood damage since they can dig through wood and reduce the stability of your foundation and wooden structure. They can also bite, however their sting isn’t as painful as that of fire ants. Carpenter ant bites usually cause mild redness and swelling that can last for several days.

While pavement ants can burrow into concrete and sidewalks, they’re simply a nuisance ant that cannot cause significant structural damage to homes. While they have stingers on their head, they rarely use them to bite or harm humans.

How to Control a Carpenter Ant or Concrete Ant Infestation

worker sprays pesticide to get rid of ant infestation

While it’s possible to manage small ant infestations with simple home remedies on your own, it’s best to consult a professional pest control team to completely exterminate them. Most ant control experts use a wide variety of treatments and solutions to effectively address your pest problem.

Getting Rid of Existing Ant Infestations

There are several ways to eliminate carpenter ants and concrete ants from your home. Here are some of the techniques that pest control experts can use:

Ways to Ant-Proof Your Home and Prevent Serious Infestations

Controlling serious infestations can be difficult which is why it’s important to always be a step ahead and set up preventive measures. Here are some tips to help keep your home unattractive for ants and avoid large infestations:

Get Professional Ant Control Help From Yale Pest Control

pest control team at Yale Pest Control

While carpenter ants and concrete ants have distinct differences in their appearance and habitats, the one thing they have in common is that they can cause a great deal of frustration once they start an infestation in your home. As a homeowner, you should schedule regular pest control inspections to keep your house free from annoying ants.

Let our team at Yale Pest Control provide you with customized and efficient solutions to eliminate your infestation problem. We have extensive experience in dealing with different types of pests including termite infestation, rodents, stinging insects, spiders and especially ant species like carpenter ants, pavement ants, crazy ants, sugar ants, acrobat ants, and field ants. Call us now to get a free quote for your ant infestation.

Having a carpenter ant infestation at home is already a huge problem, but spotting a flying ant on a property might be even worse. Although these swarming ants might seem to appear out of the blue, they’re actually a sign that an ant colony nearby plans to build a new carpenter ant nest – which is why homeowners should get rid of flying ants before it’s too late.

So how should homeowners eliminate the flying carpenter ants in their house? Winged carpenter ants look for potential nests, so it’s crucial to get rid of them before they start reproducing. Homeowners can do this using a vacuum cleaner, commercial pesticide, bug zapper, or sticky tape. It’s also important to remove all of the things that attract them, such as sweet food, damp wood, old colonies, and water leaks.

What Flying Ants Do and Why You Should Get Rid of Them

According to a survey by the National Pest Management Association, about 66% of the ant problems they encounter are caused by carpenter ants. The appearance of this particular ant species is concerning because they do more than just steal the food in the pantry – they also attack any wet wooden structure around the house to create a satellite nest.

Carpenter ants typically have black bodies with a narrow middle section, but mature ants may develop wings when it’s time to reproduce. Winged ants are often mistaken for flying termites because of their similarities, but they have distinguishing features that set them apart – a winged termite has noticeably shorter legs, equal wing length, straight antennae, and straight waist while a winged ant has longer legs and antennae, unequal wings, and a pinched waist.

Winged carpenter ants only appear around spring. They usually choose places that are near their parent colony and have all the things they need to survive. They’re also attracted to heat, so they swarm near light sources.

The appearance of flying ants is alarming because it means their parent nest is already full, forcing them to create satellite nests and reproduce there. It’s only a matter of time before the carpenter ants invade your home, so it’s crucial to get rid of flying ants before they shed their wings and cause bigger problems.

5 Ways to Eliminate Flying Carpenter Ants at Home

spraying pesticide on carpenter ants

The priority of swarming winged ants is to mate and reproduce, so it’s unlikely for people to get ant bites when they find swarms near their property. But since these flying insects are looking for a good place to start a satellite colony, then homeowners must nip the ant problem in its bud by getting rid of flying carpenter ants as soon as they’re spotted.

1. Use a Vacuum Cleaner

Vacuuming flying ants is one of the best ways to immediately handle the problem. Both full-sized and handheld vacuums work well, but make sure to use a hose attachment to reach more of the swarming ants.

The downside of using a vacuum cleaner to eliminate carpenter ants is that the device doesn’t really kill the winged ants. Homeowners must remove and replace the vacuum bag immediately to prevent the pests from escaping. Make sure to dispose of the vacuum bag or its contents properly so that the winged ants won’t survive and return to your home.

2. Spray Commercial Pesticides

There are a ton of different commercial insecticides in the market that instantly kills off various insects, so there’s a good chance that they work on flyings ants too. Choose an aerosol pesticide with an easy-to-direct spout to reach more winged ants as they fly.

Remember that some commercial aerosols have harmful chemicals, so make sure to follow the instructions on the label to avoid accidents caused by misuse. Don’t point the nozzle of the pesticide on anyone or any animal in the household. Some pesticides might also be illegal in some states, so make sure to verify if you’re using an insecticide that’s legal in your location.

If you want a safer alternative than store-bought pesticides, create an effective spray solution at home using peppermint oil and dish soap. The soap clings to the flying insect’s body, causing them to dehydrate and die. Dilute a few drops of dish soap in water and put the solution in a spray bottle. You can also add peppermint oil to make the mixture more effective since peppermint oil suffocates flying ants.

3. Set Up a Bug Zapper Outside

Electric bug zappers are highly effective in killing a variety of flying insects, including the flying carpenter ants that are attracted to heat and light given off by the device. Just hang the bug zapper in an area where flying ants might swarm and let the device kill the winged ants that go near it.

When setting up the bug zapper, make sure that it’s out of reach of children and pets. The electricity it produces won’t cause severe harm to most pets and children, but the shock it causes might still be painful for them. Make sure to follow the instructions by the device’s manufacturer to avoid misusing it and causing accidents.

4. Trap Flying Ants With Sticky Tape

Laying a strip of sticky tape around food sources helps trap foraging ants and prevent winged ants from flying around. When using this control method, make sure that the sticky side of the tape is up and it’s placed near the food source but not directly beside it.

However, the problem with using sticky tapes is that they don’t work on flying ants as they do on crawling worker ants. There’s no guarantee that the ants might get trapped since they travel by flying. If you want to still use sticky tape to trap the winged ants, it’s better to have other carpenter ant control methods in place.

5. Get Rid of Anything That Attracts Them

Pests like fire ants, ghost ants, and carpenter ants choose nesting places that provide them with things they need to survive. Eliminating these essentials might not ensure that no flying ants will visit your home, but it certainly makes the property a lot less attractive for these pests. Make sure to get rid of these things that lure ants to the property:

Dealing With Flying Carpenter Ant and Their Colonies

Flying ants are only a start or a sign of a bigger ant problem. To get rid of these pests for good, it’s better to turn all the pest control efforts into exterminating the carpenter ant colony inside or outside the house. Here are some of the most common natural repellents and home remedies used to eliminate the flying carpenter ants and their colony:

1. Borax and Boric Acid Solutions

Boric acid and Borax are made of the same compound but in different formulations. Borax is typically found in different cleaning products, while boric acid is the more processed and refined version of this compound. Both can be used by homeowners to get rid of carpenter ants because they work in the same way – when consumed by ants, the compound damages their digestive system until they die.

Boric acid or Borax is usually mixed with syrup, sugar, or honey to make an ant bait station. The mixture lures the worker ant out so it can bring the bait back to the colony, killing off multiple carpenter ants at once.

2. Essential Oils

There are plenty of essential oils used as insect repellents, but the most popular ones are peppermint and cinnamon oil. They’re usually diluted with water and sprayed on areas with carpenter ant activity to keep the pests away.

But unlike insecticides and boric acid solutions that kill carpenter ants, essential oils simply disrupt the ant trail. This confuses the foraging ants and prevents them from returning to the food source or their colony. Essential oils by themselves aren’t enough to get rid of the carpenter ants, so other pest control measures should be in place.

3. Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous earth is another natural and non-toxic pest repellent that keeps carpenter ants away. It’s made of crushed, fossilized algae with microscopic pieces that are sharp enough to cut through the exoskeleton of ants and other insects. Once their other shell has been pierced, the ants slowly dehydrate and die.

When using diatomaceous earth, make sure that it’s food grade so it’s safe to use even if there are kids and pets at home. The granules should be placed next to food sources, but not too close that they get wet.

Reliable Carpenter Ant Extermination for Your Home by Yale Pest Control

pest control management at Yale Pest Control

Flying ants only appear briefly, but a few of them can escape your watch and reproduce in their new nest inside your home. If you suspect a carpenter ant infestation at home, call a pest control company that specializes in ant extermination immediately – like Yale Pest Control.

Our team at Yale Pest Control have years of training and experience in getting rid of different household pests like flying termite, fire ant, carpenter ant, and more. We always make sure to prioritize our client’s safety by using pest control techniques that are effective in exterminating pests without causing harm to humans and the environment. Contact us today to request a quote.

When there’s a carpenter ant infestation at home, many homeowners try killing the ants with different products found in their homes. Boric acid has a long-running reputation as an effective ant killer, but it still needs to be mixed with other ingredients for better ant control treatments.

So how can you use boric acid to kill carpenter ants on wood? Boric acid is mixed with powdered sugar or water and sugar to make a solid or liquid boric acid solution. However, killing carpenter ants with boric acid solutions requires trial and error so homeowners need to try different options before finding one that works best for them.

Eliminating Carpenter Ants With Homemade Boric Acid Solution

According to the National Pest Management Association, carpenter ants are one of the most common ant species that infest homes. Having a carpenter ant nest somewhere on the property is a huge cause of concern because these pests are one of the most destructive household pests in the country.

Carpenter ants attack the moist wood they find to build their nest. They’re often mistaken for termites, but these pests only attack wood to build a satellite nest instead of using it as a food source. Regardless of what they actually do when they attack damaged wood, getting rid of the carpenter ant problem should be a priority as soon as the signs of their activity show.

A boric acid solution is an effective carpenter ant killer because it messes with the pest’s digestive and nervous system, resulting in a slow death. If you’re planning to use boric acid solutions first to kill ants, then you should be familiar with how to mix this compound with other household ingredients to create an effective ant bait system.

Making Liquid Ant Bait With Boric Acid

  1. Mix 3 parts sugar for every one part of boric acid then blend both ingredients until there are no more lumps. For example, mix 1/3 cup of boric acid per 1 cup of sugar.
  2. Slowly add water to the mixture until you’re left with a thick paste of ant bait. Some homeowners also add 1/4 cup of syrup to attract more foraging ants and make the liquid bait stickier.
  3. Transfer the liquid bait into a small container to hold it. Use a plastic lid, small plastic container, or a cotton ball. Whatever type of container is used, make sure that the ants can get near the bait without much problem.
  4. Place the container with the liquid bait in places near the carpenter ant colony. You can also put some of the liquid bait along the trail of worker ants.

Making Solid Ant Bait With Boric Acid1.

  1. Solid ant baits also follow the same 1:3 ratio of boric acid to sugar as liquid ant baits. But instead of granulated sugar, it’s better to use powdered sugar for the mixture.
  2. Stir the ingredients and ensure that they’re completely mixed. There should be no lumps in the solid ant bait.
  3. Place the powder bait along the worker ant trail to lure and trick the worker ants into bringing the bait back to their colony.
  4. The idea is to let the powder bait cling to the ant’s exoskeleton. They unknowingly ingest the poison as they clean off the powder from their bodies.

Using Boric Acid for Eliminating Ants: What You Need to Know

boric acid mixed into solid food scraps as ant bait

Boric acid solutions are an effective carpenter ant control treatment as long as they’re used correctly. Before creating a liquid or solid ant bait with the boric acid at home, here are a few things about the natural repellent that homeowners should know about first:

Is Boric Acid Different from Borax?

Borax and boric acid are both used as pesticides, but they have differences that make one better than the other in some situations. Borax contains minerals mined from the ground. It’s a common ingredient in toothpaste, soaps, cosmetics, and weed killers. It’s also used as a laundry detergent by people who don’t like harsh chemicals on their clothes.

When Borax is further processed, it turns into boric acid that’s found in different chemical products like pesticides and eye drops. Although both Borax and boric acid are low in toxicity, they should still be kept away from pets and children. Mishandling these compounds might result in skin irritation and other side effects.

How Boric Acid Kills Ants

Boric acid as a pesticide comes in different forms, like powder, liquid, tablet, or ant trap. It works by poisoning the stomach of the insect, slowing down its metabolism, and scraping the exoskeleton.

Boric acid is the best carpenter ant killer if you’re looking for a natural way to slowly kill ants. However, this pesticide alone isn’t enough to lure out carpenter ants – they need to be combined with bait like honey, sugar, or peanut butter to entice the worker ants into bringing the bait back to their parent or satellite colony.

How Long Before Boric Acid Solution Kills Ants

Boric acid has low toxicity for humans and small animals, but it’s lethal to ants once they consume or ingest it. An ant can die about 24 to 48 hours after ingesting the boric acid bait. Depending on the size of the ant colony, homeowners might need to wait for a couple of days or weeks to find dead ants near the infested wooden structure of their home.

Homemade boric acid solutions don’t guarantee a quick and complete eradication of the entire ant colony. It’s a slow-acting poison, so homeowners should patiently wait for the results of the carpenter ant treatment. It’s also important to change the bait every few days to keep the mixture fresh.

Where to Put the Boric Acid Solution

The key to a successful carpenter ant treatment using a boric acid solution is identifying the best places to lay out the ant trap – which should be near the carpenter ant colony or along the trails of these black ants.

Ant trails are easy to spot because foraging carpenter ants travel in a straight line from the food source back to their colony. Finding their parent or satellite colony is a bit tricky because you have to watch out for signs of ant activity, such as:

The Problem With Using Boric Acid for Carpenter Ants

Although boric acid solutions are effective in killing multiple carpenter ants at once, they might not be the best carpenter ant treatment for larger infestations. Here are 2 common problems that homeowners encounter whenever they use boric acid to prevent carpenter ants from invading their homes:

  1. Applying Boric Acid Alone isn’t Enough – Boric acid may kill some of the carpenter ants in their colony, but it doesn’t do anything to prevent reinfestations from occurring. To avoid the recurrence of carpenter ant infestation, extensive ant control treatments might be needed, as well as preventative measures like treating the wooden structures, clearing the old ant colonies, and more.
  2. Keeping Boric Acid Away from Pets and Children – Boric acid has low toxicity rates for humans and pets like cats and dogs, but it should still be used with caution. If mishandled, this compound can cause skin irritation, vomiting, and diarrhea. In cases of emergency, call a doctor or rush to the nearest hospital immediately.

Other Natural Extermination Methods to Try

The good news is that homeowners still have other natural alternatives to try in case their boric acid solution doesn’t work. Here are some of them:

Call Yale Pest Control for Effective Carpenter Ant Extermination

pest control management at Yale Pest Control

It’s normal to see a few ants scurrying around the kitchen now and then. But if you spot a carpenter ant, then your home might have a more serious pest problem than you think. For safe and effective carpenter ant extermination, leave the task at the hands of highly-trained professionals like our team at Yale Pest Control.

With the right training and experience in pest control, we can get rid of carpenter ants and other household pests like carpenter bees and fire ants in your home for good. Contact us today to know more about our services.

Carpenter ant problems are a huge concern for many homes in the country because these pests damage wood like drywood termites do. The structural damage they cause can result in thousands of dollars in repair, so it’s crucial to find these pests and get rid of them immediately.

So where do carpenter ants usually build nests and what’s the best way to eliminate them? A carpenter ant nest is usually found outdoors and in decaying wood near the house. It’s important to watch out for signs of their activity, like shed wings, damaged wood, frass, live ants, and noises inside walls to find the carpenter ant colony. To get rid of them, homeowners can replace rotting wood, set up ant baits, use natural repellents and insecticides, or call a pest company.

Finding Carpenter Ants in Your Home

Ants are the number one nuisance pest in the country because of several reasons – they get everywhere, they’re difficult to eliminate, and they ruin the food in the pantry. But aside from these reasons, black carpenter ant species are especially alarming because of the structural damage they cause to wooden structures on a property.

Before the carpenter ant damage gets out of control, homeowners need to identify where the carpenter ant infestation is and eliminate them with the right extermination methods. The best way to do this is to know what carpenter ants look like, where to look for them, and what the signs of carpenter ant activity are.

Where to Look for Carpenter Ant Nests

This big black ant species got its name because of its unique nesting habit of attacking moist wood and building a nest there. When homeowners spot winged carpenter ants in their homes, they might assume that there’s a damp wood termite infestation on their property because it’s difficult to tell the two pests apart.

Carpenter ants can be identified through their narrow thorax (middle body segment) and angled antennas. They also measure around 1/2 to 5/8 inch. These ants are usually black, but they might also be red, brown, or a combination of all 3 colors.

Carpenters ants may build satellite nests anywhere inside and outside the property, like wall voids, insulation, stumps, rotten fences, firewood piles, and other places where there is plenty of damp wood. When you find a satellite nest in any of these places, it’s best to call a carpenter ant control company immediately to find other satellite nests and their parent colony.

Signs of Carpenter Ant Activity

It’s not easy to find the ant colony immediately, so the next best thing that owners can do is watch out for different signs of carpenter ant activity that lead them to the parent nest.

5 Ways to Eliminate Carpenter Ants at Home

damage caused by carpenter ants in the wood

Carpenter ants are extremely destructive, so it’s crucial to find and exterminate them immediately before they cause irreparable damage. Here are some of the best ways to prevent carpenter ants from taking over the house:

1. Get Rid of Wet and Rotting Wood

Carpenter ants attack damp wood inside and outside the house to build their nests. Make sure to check the tree stump, wood pile, and other wooden structures outside the house for carpenter ant activity. Ensure that these structures don’t touch the ground so it’s difficult for carpenter ants to reach them.

If the carpenter ants already managed to damage the wood inside the house, replace it immediately before it affects the structural integrity of the building. It’s also a good way to get rid of one of the satellite nests around the house.

When removing wet and rotting wood around the house, make sure to address the moisture problem in those areas. This prevents the wood from decaying quickly and the carpenter ants from attacking.

2. Set Up Ant Bait Stations

Setting up carpenter ant bait works for minor infestations around the property. It’s one of the most effective and low-cost pest control techniques for carpenter ants because it kills multiple ants at a time using materials found at home.

Just mix boric acid or Borax with sweet food, like honey or sugar, to attract carpenter ants. The worker ants carry the boric acid-laced food back to their colony inside the damaged wood, where it’s consumed by other ants. Within a few days, homeowners may see piles of dead ants in areas near satellite colonies.

The key to creating successful bait stations is to find the best places to put them. The bait should end up on the ant trail between the nest and the food source. It’s also better to put more bait than too little to lure the ants out.

3. Use Natural Repellents

Some store-bought insecticides contain toxic chemicals that are harmful to people, pets, and the environment. Many homeowners prefer using natural repellents to get rid of the carpenter ants first before relying on pesticides or calling professional pest control companies. Here are some of the most commonly used natural ant repellents found at home:

4. Spray Pyrethrin-Based Insecticide

Pyrethrin is a plant compound extracted from the Chrysanthemum plant that’s also used as an organic pesticide. Insecticides that contain pyrethrin release nerve toxins that are lethal to soft-bodied insects like ants. They also have very low toxicity to household pets and humans, so they can be safely used in homes as long as homeowners proceed with extreme caution.

But like most carpenter ant control techniques, it’s important to locate the nest first and drill holes in the damaged wood before spraying the pyrethrin-based insecticide. This ensures that most of the ants in the colony are killed. Repeated application of the pesticide every 2 weeks is also required in some situations.

5. Call a Professional Ant Exterminator

Home remedies might work for a few ants, but a large-scale carpenter ant infestation requires treatments that can only be performed by professionals. They might use the same strategies that homeowners already tried before, but they do it with professional-grade sprays, powders, or pesticides that homeowners can’t simply buy from the local hardware store.

Ant exterminators have the right knowledge and equipment needed to get rid of carpenter ants and keep them away for a long time. Hiring their services doesn’t always come cheap, but opting for professional pest control actually helps homeowners save more money in the long run – since they don’t have to repeatedly purchase insecticides or other home remedies.

Protect Your Home from Carpenter Ants With Yale Pest Control

pest control team of Yale Pest Control

The appearance of a carpenter ant or odorous house ant doesn’t have to be a big concern for your home, as long as there are preventative measures in place. But if these pests start causing serious damage to your home, then you might need to hire professionals like Yale Pest Control to exterminate them immediately.

Yale Pest Control has been providing homes and businesses with various pest control services for several years now. We understand the habits of carpenter ants, allowing us to come up with the most effective control methods that won’t cause further harm to your home, family, and the environment. Call us today to book an appointment or get a quote from us.

With over 12,000 species, ants are among the most diverse creatures in the world. These include pavement ants, which can be found living in colonies under rocks and sidewalks. Even if the pavement ant colony isn't anywhere near your home, pavement ants can be a bothersome pest. Your home is a prime target for them, because pavement ants travel great distances in search of food and water.

So are pavement ants aggressive? Pavement ants, while not extremely aggressive, can bite and sting if provoked. Homeowners and their properties may not be at risk from pavement ants. This insect is more of a nuisance when they invade households and attempt to share or steal food.

Pavement Ants: Are They Aggressive?

Pavement ants are generally not classified as a dangerous ant species. In fact, pavement ants seek to avoid conflict rather than stinging to protect themselves. Pavement ants are a relatively docile species of ant that are non-aggressive and occasionally come into direct contact with people, despite their ability to sting and bite.

But while they represent minimal direct risk, they are a major nuisance pest that can pose an indirect threat by invading and contaminating food. Pavement ants will devour meats, grease, cheese, sugar, and nuts if they sneak their way into your home. They may also try to collect honeydew and dead insects around the home.

What Are the Dangers That Pavement Ants Pose?

Pavement ant colonies find refuge beneath the soil in yards, making pest management difficult for homeowners. Large swarms of these pests can be a nuisance near kitchens and lawns, particularly during mating swarms. Although this insect is primarily an inconvenience to have invading your household, their behavior and migration routes may cause them to spread harmful bacteria into your food storage. 

The ants you encounter in your cupboard or on your kitchen counter may have previously been wandering around in decaying rubbish or a bacteria-infested drain pipe. Worker ants can also contaminate food with bacteria like E. coli. or Salmonella, which are potentially hazardous to human health and their digestive tracts.

Even though pavement ants are rarely aggressive, this ant species can bite or sting when disturbed. Although an ant bite or sting are too weak to puncture human skin, they can trigger allergic reactions in those who are sensitive.

How to Identify Pavement Ants

Pavement ants prefer to live outside, building colonies along sidewalks. Worker ants will make their way back to the concrete foundations of homes in search of food and water, and will build their nest beneath flooring or in insulation located behind walls. Even though they aren't aggressive, it's still necessary to be able to identify them so that an extermination and pest management strategy may be implemented.

Appearance

Pavement ants are among the most widespread ant species encountered in both urban and suburban settings. Pavement ants are dark brown to black in appearance and grow to be about 1/8 of an inch long, while queens can be much larger. They have 12 segmented antennae.

The end of one of a pavement ant's antenna features 3 segmented clubs. The parallel grooved lines running down their dark brown bodies from head to thorax, as well as the spines protruding from their thorax, help differentiate them from other ant species.

Behavior

Pavement ant colonies typically have multiple queens and a large number of workers. The multiple queens lay eggs to start new pavement ant colonies. The queen's brood is then cared for by pavement worker ants until they reach adulthood. Broods are moved from place to place during their development to protect them from changes in moisture and temperature.

Diet

Pavement ants consume food from many different sources, including meat, live and dead insects, grease, seeds, and aphid honeydew. They enjoy oily foods and are capable of eating a wide variety of human food. They search for food for their colony and create scent trails from their nest to food sources. When large numbers of pavement ant workers infest a kitchen or outdoor patio, they can become a nuisance.

Habitat and Nesting

Pavement ants can be found all over the country and are a major problem in North America. These ant species get their name from the fact that they build their nests in a crack or crevice in driveways and under sidewalks, depositing the soil on top of the pavement cracks.

Pavement ants also live beneath logs, stones, bricks, patio blocks, and wooden boards. Pavement ants may also make their nest in mulch or open soil near building foundations. They can also establish their homes indoors, such as beneath floors, within walls, and inside insulation. Because pavement ant nests are difficult to find, the most effective approach to deal with a pavement ant infestation is to hire a pest control company.

Life Cycle

Before becoming mature adults, pavement ants pass through the larval, pupal and egg stages. When winged male and female pavement ants swarm in June and July, they reproduce. The females search for a different nesting site after mating and become the queen of a new pavement ant colony.

How to Prevent A Pavement Ant Infestation in Your Home

a man spraying ant insecticide

Having ants in your home can be a bit of a challenge. It's not only annoying to have ants crawling around, but a colony of ants can also cause substantial damage. While pavement ants aren’t an aggressive ant species, it’s still unsanitary to have them in your home. Food is unquestionably contaminated by ants in the house. They carry bacteria that can be spread through food or an open wound.

Some ant species, such as fire ants and harvester ants, are known to be aggressive stinging insects. Carpenter ants, on the other hand, are infamous for causing structural damage. It's crucial to be able to differentiate these ant species to be able to properly eliminate the pavement ant infestation. 

Luckily, there are several simple and efficient techniques for keeping ants out of your home. Simply follow these suggestions, and you'll be able to prevent these insects from sneaking in your home.

1) Remove Ant Colony Food Sources

The first line of defense against ants is to keep your household clean. Take away the trash, sweep up food crumbs, and don't leave dirty dishes lying around the house. This eliminates the possible food sources that might attract a worker pavement ant. Spray vinegar and water solution around bowls of pet food to prevent ants from feasting there.

2) Erase Ant Trails

You'll almost certainly see more ants where you see a single one roaming around. This is important to keep in mind, because ants produce a scent trail that other pavement ant workers follow. Sweeping or mopping is insufficient to remove the odor. Instead, make a spray bottle with 1 part vinegar and 3 parts water for a safe and simple technique to eliminate ants in the house. 

Spray areas where you've noticed the worker pavement ant before. This method will discourage future outdoor nesting ants from foraging for food inside the house. Although, not all ants that enter the house are attempting to create a colony; vinegar and water will not prevent ants from nesting inside. You'll have to use alternative ant control measures, such as ant bait, to get rid of them.

3) Seal and Spray Ant Entry Points

After you've gotten rid of the ants, make sure they don't return back into your home. After caulking and sealing cracks and openings, apply insecticide around doors and windows. One technique to get rid of ants is to use an insecticide spray that contains bifenthrin, deltamethrin, or permethrin. You may also opt to spray insecticide on pavement cracks around your property.

Just enough to moisten the surface, spray a 4 inch wide line around access points. When the spray dries, it creates an invisible film that drives ants out of the house. Spray the insecticide in the spring to keep ants at bay. But keep in mind that this method only works to keep ants out. This ant control method won't kill any ants already inside, and it may compromise the application of ant baits around the household.

4) Place Ant Baits in and Around Active Areas

If you've noticed scout ants in your home, you should start putting bait traps in the locations where you've seen them. You don't have to kill the worker pavement ant immediately. While an ant bait may momentarily attract more ants, their poisonous chemical will be brought back to the pavement ant colony and may assist to eradicate the colony as a whole, rather than just the few pavement ant workers that sneak their way into your home.

Manage Ant Infestations With Yale Pest Control

ants linger on a shelf

While pavement ants aren’t an aggressive ant species, they will still manage to find their way into your home. In such circumstances, it’s best to remove their scent trail that connects the pavement ant colonies into your property. Pavement ants will choose to stay outside, if they don't have easy access to food or water inside your home. Although it’s ideal to use ant control and prevention strategies, it’s sometimes impossible to avoid an ant infestation.

When preventative strategies fail to eliminate your ant colony, it's time to call in the insect extermination experts at Yale Pest Control. Not only do we get rid of pavement ants, but also odorous house ants, sugar ants, and pharaoh ant species among others. We can also assist you with wildlife control before they cause any structural damage to your property. Schedule a consultation with us today to learn more about us and how we can help you.

Originating from Europe, these pavement pests have established themselves in much of North America and are now one of the most common ant species here. A pavement ant infestation can be detected by the substrate or soil mounds they leave around their nests, but identifying the ant species isn't always enough to determine the best ant management strategy. Understanding the nesting behaviors of these ant species is also important for homeowners.

So are pavement ants classified as fully claustral species? Male pavement ants normally die after mating with virgin queens, and the pavement ant queens go off to create their own colonies. During the early phases of colony formation, the fully claustral queen isolates herself entirely in a chamber. She is responsible for raising the first generation of ants until they are able to assist promote a larger society and acquire food for the colony.

Are Pavement Ants a Fully Claustral Species?

The first thing to understand is that an ant queen can be categorized into 3 groups: fully claustral, semi-claustral, and socially parasitic. Pavement ants are classified as fully claustral species. A fully claustral queen will be bulkier than a semi-claustral ant queen, but will have a smaller head proportionate to a social parasite or a semi-claustral queen. 

As a result, they don't need to forage or fight during the initial stages of the colony since they spend all of their time in the nest. The fully claustral queens are prone to changes in humidity and disturbances and stress in their nesting site. They get their energy from fat and food storage, as well as metabolizing their wing muscles.

Pavement ant colonies typically have multiple queens and a large number of workers. A fully claustral queen lays eggs to start a new smaller colony of pavement ants. The ant queen's brood is then provided for by pavement worker ants until they reach adulthood. Broods are moved from place to place during their development to protect them from changes in temperature and humidity.

What Is the Nesting Behavior of Pavement Ants?

Pavement ant colonies can sometimes be found in the home, but this is an uncommon occurrence. In bathrooms, colonies commonly congregate under toilets and showers. They may also build their nests along underground or sub-slab heating ducts and gain entry to structures from heating vents. These warm areas help sustain colonies all winter long. 

This fully claustral species can also be found in gardens, where their foraging can cause plant damage. They've been seen scavenging up to 30 feet away from their colonies, indicating that the source of an invasion can differ from one location to another.

Outdoors, pavement ant nests can be observed in the dirt beneath any type of debris, around curbing edges, and in pavement cracks, particularly cracks near lawns. These ants have been observed to build their nests in foundation cracks and expansion joint gaps. 

This wide range of nesting activities can make it difficult to determine the exact location of a nest, but a small mound of excavated dirt is a telltale sign. Often these mounds of dirt are pushed up and away from where the ant nest is situated.

Pavement Ants: How to Identify Them

Pavement ants earned their name from the fact that they frequently make their nests under pavements, driveways, and building foundations. When displaced substrate or soil appears along a paved surface, pavement ants are most likely to be present.

Pavement ants may nest within structures near a heat source throughout the winter. This species of ants feeds on dead insects, nectar, greasy foods, seeds and sugar, including aphid honeydew. Pavement ants are known to establish scent trails to food and water sources from their colony's nest.

You must first determine whether you are dealing with pavement ants before using the suitable treatment procedure. When pavement ants are misidentified, the incorrect treatment methods could be used, resulting in a loss of money and time. The following are some common characteristics of pavement ants that can help you identify them quickly.

1) Appearance

Pavement ant workers are 2.5 to 4 mm long and dark brown to black in color. These tiny workers have parallel grooves or lines on their head and thorax. There are two segments to the pedicel, which links the thorax and abdomen. Two spines in the posterior or dorsal thorax extend upward to the back and bear a stinger in the last abdominal segment. They also have 12 segmented antennae that are paler compared to their bodies.

Swarmers, also known as reproductive ants, are winged and about twice the size of workers, with a furrowed head and thorax. The spines are visible on females but not on males. After a mating flight, pavement ant queens typically shed their wings.

2) Diet

Pavement ants enjoy consuming greasy and sweet food, but they will eat anything that falls to the ground, including dead insects, seeds, honey, pet food, nectar, and just about anything else. Food preferences can differ depending on the season and the colony. 

Pavement ants are natural scavengers who will devour meats, bread, grease, and other appetizing goods they can discover in human residences. Pavement ants will scavenge dead insects, plants, and anything else they can find outside.

3) Threats Posed by Infestation

Pavement ants are a nuisance pest that leave unsightly dirt mounds on roadways, sidewalks, as well as inside commercial buildings. Pavement ants have a stinger and can bite, however they rarely attack humans. Although these ants don't pose a threat to human health, they can lead to the contamination of food as they forage. 

These small insects will search for any edible crumb and infiltrate structures in order to obtain sustenance for their large colonies. The pavement ant population will continue to expand as long as nests are not treated in time. A professional ant exterminator should be consulted if you suspect pavement ants are infesting your property.

4) Life Cycle

Before becoming mature adults, pavement ants go through a complete metamorphosis, progressing through the egg, larval, and pupal stages. When winged male and female pavement ants swarm in June and July, they usually reproduce. The females look for a new nesting place after mating and become the queen ant of a new smaller colony.

How to Prevent a Pavement Ant Infestation

ants on piece of meat

Pavement ants are average household pests that flourish in heavily populated areas, often on or near pavement. These small insects will enter human residences in quest of sugar, starchy foods, potentially infecting them with bacteria collected from the outdoors. Pavement ant prevention can be challenging, but there are certain measures you can take around your home to help prevent them, including:

1) Cut Off Sources of Food

The best method to identify if pavement ants have infiltrated your home is to see worker ants crawling around, especially in the kitchen. Pavement ants can take over homes and outdoor patio areas as they scavenge for food by tracking a scent trail from their colony to a food source.

To keep most household pests away from food, make sure you store it in sealed, air-tight containers. Food sources must be restricted for ants, so as to prevent these small insects from gaining access. This will also keep other pests away who may be searching for a food source at the same time.

2) Remove Ant Entrances

It's time to start stopping ants from infiltrating your home after you've finished eliminating food items and restricting access to them. Look for spots in and around your house that could be ant entry points. The evident entrances for ants can be eliminated by caulking openings around windows and doors, as well as the foundation of your property. These sealants will deteriorate with time and exposure to the environment, so pay attention to them and reapply as needed.

3) Eliminate Ant Trails

If you already have an ant problem, it's critical to figure out where they're emerging from and clear their trails to discourage them from entering your home. A simple vinegar and water solution applied down the area of the ant trail can disturb the ants and prompt them to search for a new food source.

Pavement ants make scent trails for other worker ants to follow. If one trail is found, there are likely to be more. When spraying ant trails, keep an eye out for variations from the trail that lead to other parts of your house and wipe them down as well.

Tips for Eliminating a Pavement Ant Infestation

The most common cause for contacting an experienced pest control company is ant infestations. Ants in your home are difficult to eradicate. No matter how many ants you kill, another colony of ants appears to take their place. There are many different types of ants, each with a different size, color, and food preferences.

The first step in removing ants from your property is to thoroughly inspect your home and yard. A complete inspection should indicate the species of ant you're dealing with, as well as the location of the nest. It's time to start treating pavement ants once you've confirmed their presence. Here are some ant control methods to help you eliminate a pavement ant infestation:

1) Insecticides

If you trace ant trails and locate an outdoor nest for the colony, a high dosage of liquid insecticide that can penetrate down to reach the queen may be effective. It may be beneficial to spray the nest with an effective insecticide. However, make sure that this is the ant colony that's causing your indoor infestation. 

Ant barrier insecticides applied properly around the perimeter of foundation can deter scouts from approaching your home and discourage ants from invading in search of food. While local hardware stores may have goods that can be helpful, professional pest control companies have treatments that are more effective than those commercially accessible.

2) Ant Bait

The introduction of baits can be used to control foraging pavement ant workers. The workers return to the nest with the baited substance, terminating the colony. In this sense, a homeowner has a wide variety of bait options. It should be noted that baits containing hydramethylnon, fipronil or boric acid have a gradual effect and don't kill worker ants before they have a chance to share the bait with the queen ant and juveniles, and larvae. 

Place the ant baits in locations where ant activity has been detected, but keep them out of reach of children and pets. Replace used baits to keep a sufficient supply of bait for the colony. It could take two weeks or more to completely take effect.

3) Natural Remedies

The removal of ants and their nests from your property can be accomplished through a variety of means. While professional ant exterminators may be required in most situations, there are several natural and homemade alternatives that can eliminate the problem without introducing chemicals or toxins into your home. 

Here are some of the most effective natural ant killers and repellents that you can make at home:

Keep Your Home Pest-Free With Yale Pest Control

ant colonies

Ant infestations inside home walls can be tough to deal with, so it's best to entrust the job to a professional pest control company like Yale Pest Control. Before selecting the optimal treatment strategy for your property, our team of pest professionals thoroughly evaluates the level of damage and infestation. Whether you’re experiencing an invasion of common ant colonies, such as pavement ants or fire ants, we’ve got you covered.

At Yale Pest Control, our pest control and management is the smartest, safest choice for businesses and homes looking to get rid of pests. We have the necessary equipment, strategies, and techniques to keep any type of pest and insect out of your property. Other services offered by Yale Pest Control include fumigation and nest/colony removal. For a free quote on our services, feel free to contact Yale Pest Control now.

When you see a swarm of ants crawling around your kitchen or living room, you're probably not too worried about the kind of ants they are. However, the species of ants you're dealing with might have a significant impact on how you handle them. Different varieties of ants can cause different types of damage after they have gained access to your property. When comparing pavement ants to carpenter ants, this is extremely relevant to keep in mind.

So how can you differentiate a pavement ant from a carpenter ant? Carpenter ants prefer to nest in softened, damp wood, whereas pavement ants prefer rocks, pavement cracks, and other hard surfaces. Another distinction is their physical appearance. Carpenter ants are considerably larger than pavement ants. The risks that these species represent to homeowners and their properties are also different.

How to Tell Pavement Ants and Carpenter Ants Apart

For some, all ants may appear to be the same; bothersome pests that infest homes and inflict damage. It’s important to note that not every ant is the same. Pavement ants and carpenter ants have distinct characteristics. Recognizing the distinctions between them can help you figure out which one is currently wreaking havoc on your property and whether you need to hire a pest control company.

Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ant species often choose decayed or damp wood as nesting sites for their colonies. Although carpenter ants don't really eat wood, when colonies are active for several years, they can cause significant damage. You'll often notice sawdust around their kick-out holes, in addition to witnessing them crawling around your house.

Additionally, if you start noticing a winged ant emerging from ceilings, walls, or other concealed spaces, you might have an infestation. In the presence of a severe carpenter ant infestation, you may find stuck doors or windows, sinking ceilings, uneven floors, and bulging walls.

Appearance

Carpenter ants can come in different sizes from 1/2 to 5/8 of an inch in length. Although black carpenter ants are the most prevalent, certain species may be reddish or yellowish in color. As with the color of this ant species, the color can vary from black to brown, red, orange, yellowish brown, black, yellow, or light brown. Some ants are both red and black in hue.

Because there are numerous species of carpenter ants in North America, size and color are not necessarily accurate identifying features. Carpenter ants are distinguishable from common ant species by their rounded thorax, heart-shaped head, and hair circle around the anus.

The forewings of queen carpenter ants and reproductive males are larger than the hind wings. Sometimes mistaken for a winged termite, the wings of these flying ants are pale brown or translucent. In the spring and fall, winged carpenter ants emerge. After being impregnated, the female flying ants build a carpenter ant nest to establish a new colony.

Nesting

Carpenter ants, similar to acrobat ants, can infiltrate wood and cause extensive damage to buildings or structures. Compared to regular ants, carpenter ants are among the leading causes of structural damage in most households. Carpenter ants infest wood by establishing a satellite nest, which are tiny versions of the parent colony, outside of the main carpenter ant nest. 

Carpenter ants often have several satellite nests within a structure, making extermination difficult. Before attempting to self-treat a situation like this, consult an insect extermination professional to determine the extent of the carpenter ant infestation and the best course of action.

Food Source

Much like other species of regular ants, such as fire ants and crazy ants, dead insects, termites, budworm larvae, nectar, and aphid honeydew are among the foods consumed by carpenter ants. Carpenter ants are omnivores, meaning they consume both plant and animal matter. Carpenter ants will devour sweets, meat, greasy food, and animal fat when they sneak their way into your home.

Worker ants collect secretions from dead insect parts they encounter, then leave the shell behind, because deceased insects are an excellent source of protein. Carpenter ants, like many other ant species, have a craving for sweets. Similar to regular ants, sugary substances such as tree sap and honey, in addition to nectar and juice, are their top choices.

Life Span

A large and stable carpenter ant colony takes 3 to 6 years to establish. From egg to adult, a carpenter ant's life cycle is acknowledged to be 6 to 12 weeks. The development time of carpenter ants can be extended by up to 10 months in cold temperatures.

Pavement Ants

pavement ants on blocks

One of the easiest methods to recognize pavement ants is to look beneath sidewalks, cement slabs, and huge rocks, where they tend to establish their colonies and forage. Pavement ants invade buildings and homes through gaps in the foundation. Pavement ants are likely discarding debris from excavated nests when you detect small soil particles and sand mounds in structures along crevices in concrete slabs.

Appearance

Pavement ant workers are 2.5 to 4 mm length, dark brown to black in color, and have parallel lines on the head and thorax. Worker ants are approximately 1/8 to 1/16 of an inch long and dark brown or black in color. A winged ant of this ant species is around twice the size of the workers. In June and July, pavement flying ant swarms typically emerge. Large pavement flying ant swarms can become a problem when they enter buildings and residences.

This ant species are sometimes confused with the dreaded odorous house ant, which can also be found throughout North America. Pavement ants, unlike an odorous house ant, have two nodes in front of the abdomen and fine grooves on the head and thorax. When crushed, they have an acidic scent, whereas the odorous house ant and ghost ant types stink like rotten coconuts.

Nesting

This insect commonly infiltrates homes through crevices in floorboards, building foundations, and interior slabs. When you see unmistakable heaps of sand and soil on top of foundation walls or near gaps in concrete slabs, you'll be able to tell there's a pavement ant infestation going on.

Once pavement ants infiltrate your home, they will build their nests under floorboards, in attic or wall insulation, underneath carpets, and in moist environments, including under sinks or near toilets. If you suspect an ant infestation indoors, inspect baseboards and carpet edges.

Food Source

Pavement ants eat a wide selection of food. Sugar, nectar, fruits, and syrups are all widely accepted sweet food sources for this ant species. The pavement ant workers also collect dead insects, grease, and small seeds and store them in their nest. Almost any particle of food that falls to the ground will be devoured by these ants.

Life Span

Multiple queens are normally responsible for all egg-laying in pavement ant colonies, while workers care for the offspring throughout the whole life cycle. Pavement ant nests that have multiple queens tend to grow quickly. Worker ants, on the other hand, have a lifespan that can range from a few months to a year, depending on the food source available to their ant colony.

Are Pavement Ants and Carpenter Ants Dangerous?

Pavement ants are completely harmless and serve only as an inconvenience. Carpenter ants are not only a nuisance ant, but they can also harm the structure of your home. To build their nests, carpenter ants gnaw through wood. They will munch through any type of moldy or damp wood, whether indoors or out.

Threats Posed By Pavement Ants

Pavement ants, as their name implies, prefer to live on pavement cracks. They try to conquer neighboring ant colonies in the spring, which results in a large number of dead ants, which makes pavements look unsightly. They make nests in sand and expand their colonies by digging into it.

Although pavement ants have stingers, they rarely attack humans. When you get stung, the stinger is usually too weak to pierce your skin. A pavement ant bite might result in skin discomfort or a rash. These ants aren't venomous, and their bites aren't harmful to humans.

Threats Posed By Carpenter Ants

Carpenter ants, much like termites, are capable of going undiscovered for extended periods of time. By the moment you realize you've got them, you've already got a serious infestation on your hands. Carpenter ant damage is frequently confused with termite damage. Remember that termites consume and digest the cellulose in wood, but carpenter ants just hollow out galleries to establish as nests in wood.

In some situations, these wood-destroyers have the ability to deliver a more devastating blow to wood than termites. There are several species of ants native to the United States, but the carpenter ant is the largest. It’s crucial to immediately address a carpenter ant infestation to prevent further damage.

The Most Effective Ways to Get Rid of Ant Infestations

Whether it's water, food, or shelter, ants have the same basic needs as other creatures. As a result, these little insects have a tendency of infiltrating our homes. While some of these small insects aren't harmful to humans, they can be an undesirable sight, or worse, munch their way through valuable wooden structures and furniture.

Even though we make every attempt to keep our homes clean and spotless, even wiping down those overlooked areas, it isn't always enough to keep the pests away. This is when ant control solutions can help. The following are some ways to help you get rid of an ant infestation:

When to Contact A Pest Control Professional

Ant colonies are extensive communities with a division of work among the several castes, making them challenging to regulate. Once you can properly identify the ant species that have invaded your home, you'll be able to identify the treatment strategies for that specific species.

While most people consider ants to be nuisances rather than pests, carpenter ants may do significant damage to timber structures inside homes. If left untreated, they can cause serious structural damage, resulting in costly repairs and a potentially dangerous living environment.

If everything else fails, consider hiring a professional exterminator to manage your nuisance ant problem. Hire a company that is dedicated to utilizing the least amount of harmful products necessary. Tell them if you have children, pets, or any other health concerns, like a respiratory disease.

Some exterminators utilize phrases like green, organic, or eco-friendly in their titles. If you're worried about chemicals, ask the pest control professional what they usually use in ant treatments before hiring them.

Contact Yale Pest Control for Your Ant Infestation Problems

ants on wood surface

You're one step closer to solving your ant problem if you know the differences between a carpenter and pavement ant. Pests, particularly ants, can be difficult to deal with since they involve a proactive approach and a range of strategies. Whether you have a pharaoh ant, argentine ant, fire ant, or acrobat ant infestation, you should hire a pest control professional for proper ant problem management and treatment.

At Yale Pest Control, we provide high-quality pest control solutions by customizing pest management programs for your home or business and offering exceptional customer service. With our fumigation, nest and colony removal, and other guaranteed successful pest control procedures, you may finally say goodbye to pests in your home or office. Feel free to contact us and schedule an appointment for consultation.

Several different species of ants can be discovered in a home, but only a small percentage of over 12,000 different species cause difficulties for homeowners. These popular species include anything from giant, dangerous carpenter ants to small, harmless pavement ants. Still, it might become concerning to see tiny pavement ants lingering around your property.

So how can you get rid of pavement ants that have been lingering for a week? Some ants are just looking for food or a place to live, while some can be more destructive than merely trying to survive. It’s important to have a clear understanding of what pavement ants are in order to prevent an invasion and large infestation. Knowing what they look like, how long they live, and what they do can help you get rid of them.

Are Lingering Pavement Ants a Sign of Infestation?

Pavement ants are among the most common pests, and due to their preference for sweet foods, they are also known as sugar ants. They are said to have originated in Europe, but they may also be found in many parts of the United States and around the world.

They’re called pavement ants because they build their nests beneath sidewalks. Pavement ants build mounds under floors, in landscaping, in roads, in a wall void, around water heaters, under concrete slabs and bricks, on garbage, in insulations, and the like.

Identifying Pavement Ants

Pavement ants are the ones you see invading sidewalk cracks, but you may also notice them crawling over your kitchen floor looking for grease spots, crawling over your picnic blanket, or tracking the scent of grilled food on your patio.

Outdoor pavement ant colonies are unlikely to cause any damage. But when this little ant decides to create an indoor colony, it becomes a nuisance pest you'll have to deal with. It’s important to learn how to differentiate pavement ants from other common ants, such as fire ants, carpenter ants, and argentine ants. All of which may cause a different kind of destruction, when compared to the tiny pavement ant.

Appearance

Pavement ants are dark brown to blackish in color and measure 2.5 to 3 mm in length. Their body is divided into 3 sections: head, thorax, and legs. The head and thorax are darker, with parallel markings, while the legs and antenna are lighter. The antenna on a pavement ant's head contains 12 segments.

Behavior

Pavement ants build their nest sites in the ground beneath stones, pavements, and crevices in building foundations. Pavement ants can build nests in a wall void indoors, usually in humid areas nearby a heat source. 

Pavement ant colonies can grow to be fairly large, with up to 4,000 colony members and multiple queens. Winged ants of this species are commonly encountered in the spring. Swarmers from indoor colonies, on the other hand, can be found at any time of year.

Habitat and Nesting

Pavement ants thrive in their nest sites underneath or near cement slabs, patios, sidewalks, and driveways. Pavement ant nests can be found in the open or hidden beneath stones, pavement, brickwork, or wood. Worker ants use pipelines or cables to move upward from their ground-level nests. 

Pavement ants create a problem in commercial buildings when winged ants emerge from gaps in walls above ceilings and descend into the rooms below. They are more common in residences near a heat source, such as a radiator or heating duct, throughout the winter.

Diet

Pavement ants consume decomposing matter, honeydew, sweet and greasy foods, meat, grasses, pet food, seeds, insects, and other organic stuff. When food is collected, pavement ant workers return to their ant nest in clear lines, maintaining their discipline as they do so. When they return to their nest sites, they use a stinger at the tip of their abdomen to produce a scent trail that guides other workers in finding the food source.

Life Cycle

Workers, reproductive males, and winged females make up the caste system of pavement ants. The colony is looked after by the worker ants, who also look for food. Every pavement ant colony has multiple queens.

During the spring and summer, pavement ants mate. The queen lays eggs after mating, males die, and mated females drop their wings and travel to a new location to start a new pavement ant colony. In 40 to 60 days, the eggs mature into adult worker ants. Males responsible for reproduction die after a few months, although workers can survive up to 5 years.

Threats Posed by Pavement Ants

While pavement ants don't damage the structure of the houses, large colonies of pavement ants can be both bothersome and unsanitary. These ants can eat and contaminate your food. Pavement ants can bring bacteria or viruses into your home through waste or leftovers. You can use many pest control strategies to eliminate them and avoid potential damage.

The sting of pavement ants poses little threat to humans. They have a calm attitude and are more focused on collecting food for their colonies. They can, however, sting if they feel threatened. Pavement ant stings can be mildly uncomfortable and cause irritation. In some situations, ant bites may trigger allergic reactions.

Signs of a Pavement Ant Infestation

Outside, the pests establish an ant nest under rocks, logs, and pavement. cracks. Because the insects scavenge at night and dwell under floors and inside walls, pavement ant colonies are much more challenging to detect indoors. There are several unmistakable indicators of pavement ant infestation, such as:

Why Are Ants Invading Your Home?

While pavement ants are naturally attracted to outside paved areas such as sidewalks, roads, and concrete, they can also invade your property through cracks and crevices in concrete, such as foundations, slabs, and door jams.

Warmth and moisture are enticing to pavement ant colonies. You'll most likely encounter these ants in these parts of your home if you have them.

Food sources, particularly those providing sugar and protein, often including honey, nuts, cheese, bread, jam, cookies, and crackers, are the main things that pavement ants hunt for inside a home. Grease, pollen, pet food, plant nectar, trash, and even other dead insects are all consumed by these ant species.

Eliminating the Pavement Ant Infestation

a man spraying insecticide

Several chemical and natural strategies can be used to manage pavement ant infestations. If you want to eliminate the entire colony of pavement ants, ant bait is the most efficient way out of all of the methods. It is important to seal all cracks, crevices, and potential ant nests after employing any of these methods to avoid re-infestation of pavement ants.

1) Ant Bait

Ant baits are one of the most effective methods to get rid of a pavement ant infestation. Slow-acting baits may take a while to show results, but they are quite effective. Sugar-baits, fat-based baits, and protein-based baits are among the several types of baits available on the market.

Dust and insecticide sprays will disperse and kill the worker ants fast, preventing them from returning to their ant nest. In the event the queen survives, the colony will thrive and eventually multiply. When you successfully lure ants using ant bait, they will transport the bait to their nests. This ant bait will then be consumed by the queen and workers, resulting in the destruction of the whole colony.

2) Insecticide

Pavement ants are managed with a variety of interior and outdoor insecticide sprays. Instructions and labels are included with these sprays, and you'll be able to achieve good results by following the company's guidelines. Spray the cracks, fissures, holes, and ant mounds with the insecticide spray.

3) Natural Remedies

Homeowners can opt to choose from numerous ant control methods for eradicating infestations. Although professional exterminators may be required in some circumstances, there are several natural alternatives that can eliminate ant activity without introducing chemicals or poisons into your home. If you don't want to utilize chemical methods to get rid of the pavement ants, try the following ant control solutions

4) Hire a Pest Control Professional

Getting rid of ants can be quite challenging, especially if there is an active infestation. It's advisable to contact an exterminator if you've experienced several ant infestations, especially stinging or wood-destroying ants. Homemade ant treatments might drive them deeper into the wall voids or under the foundation, so it's crucial to seek professional ant removal services as soon as possible.

Eliminating these pests may appear overwhelming without the right training and equipment. Ant problems, no matter how minor, can become worse if not addressed properly. The best approach to handle the problem is to contact a licensed specialist, who can also provide guidance on how to avoid future ant infestations.

How to Prevent Ants From Infesting Your Property

The final phase of extermination is to prevent ants gaining access to your household. Preventing pavement ants from entering your home is your best defense. Ant activity in your property can be deterred by removing possible attractants. To prevent another pavement ant infestation, take the following measures.

Expert Ant Infestation Extermination at Yale Pest Control

pavement ants control

A variety of ant control solutions can be used to get rid of different species of ants. It's crucial to be able to identify them, so you can keep the ant colony from expanding or infesting the rest of your home. When you discover an insect in your area, it's important to develop the appropriate pest control strategy to save you time and money. But if your household insect infestations have gone out of hand, it's time to hire an experienced pest control company.

At Yale Pest Control, we ensure that the entire ant colony is eradicated from your property, with the option of developing a treatment plant to avoid future infestations. Apart from ant infestations, we have a high level of expertise dealing with pest problems of all kinds, such as mosquitoes, termites, roaches, and bed bug colonies. If you want to learn more about our services and all the other pests we can eliminate, schedule a consultation with us today.

As peak summer approaches, pests like wasps, spiders, and ants, to mention a few, have most likely begun to appear in homes and yards across the region by now. But not to mention, ants will have probably already begun invading your home. Pavement ants will be the most common species of ants to make their way to your home.

But are these dark brown pests harmful to you and your family members? The simplest answer is no. They can be irritating when crawling on human skin, but these common ant species pose no real threat to people. Homeowners have nothing to fear, as these are also susceptible to a variety of treatment options like gel baits, bait traps, and chemical treatments.

Do Pavement Ants Pose a Threat?

Pavement ants generally don’t bite, but they can sting if necessary. These ants are typically calm and only use their stingers when absolutely necessary and humans can not get sick or ill from this ant sting.

The stinger is tiny and can't penetrate human skin in most circumstances. The skin of little children or sensitive areas like the underside of the forearm might get inflamed, resulting in a rash. In addition to contaminating food and harming the environment, the pavement ant can create other problems.

Pavement ants travel over surfaces, food preparation areas, countertops, and other areas as they migrate indoors. Bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens can readily be transferred throughout the procedure.

These ants are most commonly found outside, nesting behind stones in walkways or patios, or under curbing, they can sometimes be found inside, nesting in walls or under the floorboards of your home. The ants you see on your kitchen floor are the colony's workers, who are out searching for food sources.

How Pavement Ants Operate

Pavement ants, like any other pest, are drawn to homes that provide a safe, warm environment near food and water. They like to build their nests in cemented pavement cracks, under and under concrete foundations, and along sidewalks.

When it comes to types of foods, they're not picky. Pavement ants eat sweets, fruits, greasy foods and oil, pet food, and dead insects among other things. Pavement ants are attracted to properties with compost piles, gardens, and garbage cans with no covers.

Once pavement ants have established themselves on your property, it will only be a matter of time until they seek food inside your home. Through gaps in the foundation and external walls of your home, pavement ants can infest your home in vast numbers.

They will most likely choose to stay until they are forced out. Pavement ants nest behind walls in insulation, beneath floors, in crawl spaces, and/or in ground-level masonry walls within homes and other buildings.

How to Spot a Pavement Ant Infestation

The best method to tell if your home has been plagued by pavement ants is to notice worker pavement ants around your home. Pavement ants usually build their nests under floors or inside wall gaps, then leave to feed and contaminate the house.

Large colonies of up to 3,000 or 4,000 insects are attacked by these pests, as they are one of their ideal food sources. Spotting dead insects or insects with missing wings could be an indicator of pavements ants in the vicinity. If you find elevated mounds in the dirt near your home, it's a good sign you have pavement ants.

Getting Rid of Pavement Ants

Pavement ants are a tough nuisance to eradicate without the assistance of a qualified expert since they infiltrate homes in enormous numbers, have several nesting places, and nest in difficult-to-reach spots.

An exterior barrier against ants should be installed, and it’s created by applying a non-repellent substance around the perimeter of your property; internal home treatments can also be applied if needed. These treatments should be done twice a year, in the spring and fall, to guarantee year-round pest control.

Meat, nuts, dead insects, and oily meals are all favorites of pavement ants. They have been observed nesting near human settlements in order to have easy access to the items they consume. Ant baits, bait traps, and liquid bait stations, can all be placed near food sources to draw them away and kill off their colony.

How to Avoid a Pavement Ant Infestation

Pavement ants seek food, so the easiest approach to avoid an infestation is to keep all of your food closed and stored. Food sources should never be left out in the open, and spills should be cleaned up as soon as possible. To keep ants out of your house, make sure to seal cracks, especially those in your windows and foundation. Also, be sure to have a frequent pest inspection done to proactively prevent infestations.

Long-term Pavement Ants Extermination Solutions at Yale Pest Control

pest management team

It might be alarming to discover a swarm of ants in or near your house. For most homeowners, attempting to eliminate them is a daunting process. Thankfully, you’re not on your own. Yale Pest Control is your best friend for pest solutions, and companion in dealing with the threat of pests. We’re a family-owned group of pest management professionals that specialize in tracking pest activity and solving pest infestation problems.


Our pest control experts can quickly identify the cause of your ant problems and eliminate the threat from your space. The Yale Pest Control company ensures that the entire pavement ant colonies are eradicated from your home, keeping your kitchen and food supply safe from ant infestation.

Call us now at 800-750-9253.

Ants are typically found in holes or wall voids, pavement cracks, and structures. They love wet and warm environments, such as cracks and fissures, beneath kitchen cabinets, pipes, within wooden beams, and any other tight space. One such dwelling place that they can choose to reside in is stone walls within or outside your property, typically habituated by fire ants.

How do you remove fire ants that have found their way inside your garden stone wall? Some of the best methods include sprays, liquid insecticides, insecticide dust, and ant baits. Ant colonies that have established themselves near your home can do significant damage to your walls and wooden buildings, as well as pose serious health dangers. As a result, the problem of ant colonies in the walls should be handled as soon as possible to avoid future serious issues.

Killing Fire Ants Nested Inside Your Stone Wall

One of the most well-known pests is ants. Some of the most common species of ants are the pavement ant, which is usually dark brown and feeds on dead insects, pet food, and even rotten coconut. But another ant type that is brown in color and much more ferocious is fire ants. But they aren't the supermen of ants, and boiling water, pesticides, and baits can help eradicate them like any other species of ant.

Plant sugars are the fire ants' primary food supply, making them a severe concern for farmers, but they also eat insects, rodents, birds, and reptiles. They use their strong four-toothed mandible to lock onto prey, then release an alkaloid-based venom that leaves a crimson and white pustule in their wake.

Proteins and peptides in the venom can cause an allergic response in some people. Around 5% of fire ant assaults are fatal to humans. Their ant colonies may go undetected, but bigger ant infestations can cause significant harm. You may save a lot of time and money if you examine and treat your property on time because larger ant infestations necessitate stringent controls and a comprehensive pest management strategy.

Treatment Methods

1. Liquid Pesticide Sprays

Liquid pesticide sprays are the most frequent way for removing ants from walls. This is one of the most effective and efficient ways to get rid of ant infestations. There are a variety of commercially available ant killer sprays that you may select the most appropriate one based on the ant species.

Contact ant killer and non-repellent insecticide sprays are two types of ant killer sprays that are commonly available (or residual ant killer). When ants come into touch with contact pesticide sprays, they are quickly killed. This strategy may not be effective since it only kills the ants already present at the place while causing the remaining ants to flee.

Non-repellent ant killers kill the ants without being seen. It doesn't kill the ants right away, allowing them to return to their nests to spread the pesticide. To prevent ant colonies from re-establishing themselves, spray all access points, trails, and nesting places and follow the preventive instructions.

Drenching the mound with a liquid pesticide is a simple and efficient technique to get rid of a fire ant infestation. Because the poison penetrates deeper into the ant mound, this approach is more effective than boiling water.

Users should create at least 2 to 3 gallons of the solution according to the manufacturer's recommendations and use it to saturate the anthill when using liquid treatments. This substance kills ants on touch and then leaves an active residue that kills other ants as they enter or escape the nest.

Keep in mind, however, that this procedure is equally as dangerous as boiling water since the selected ant exterminator must pour the solution near to the nest.

2. Ant Traps and Ant Baits

When compared to other pest management approaches, ant baits or traps yield the best results. Baits take a long time to work, but they can kill the entire colony, including the queen. Liquid baits, gel baits, and granular ant baits are some of the commercially available bait options. You can buy them based on the feeding habits of the ant species that have contaminated your walls, bait granules being the most effective for fire ants.

Sugar-based food is preferred by certain ants, whereas a protein-based diet is preferred by others (greasy). Liquid baits are sugar-based, less harmful, and packaged. Gel baits (usually sugar-based) come in tubes or syringes and can be sprayed on the ground near nesting areas. The majority of granular ant baits are solid protein-based.

Place these baits along ant routes, wall cavities, and access points. The ants will return to their colony with the bait and die as a result of the entire procedure. You may also verify the bait's efficiency for the specific ant species using a sample bait before using it. If you're not sure what kind of ant you're dealing with, use this method.

Baiting around a mound or in locations where nests may be hidden in a more secured area is the best way to lure them out. The ants grab the bait and transport it deep within their nest, killing the queen in the process. The idea is for the worker ants to gather the bait and transport it back to the nest, where it will kill any ants who consume it, especially the colony queen.

3. Insecticide Dust

Ant sprays are less effective and less adaptable than insecticide powders or dust, in our opinion. Spray can leave a mark on the wall in some circumstances, and applying it inside the crevices is difficult. Insecticide dust, on the other hand, may penetrate deep into the gaps and kill the ants when used with a duster.

4. Boiling Water Poured on the Ant Hill

An old-school method is to pour boiling water over fire ant nests. Even though it's free, natural, and quick, it's not the most efficient way to get rid of anthills. The odds of the water reaching the queen, who is deep within the nest, are small. It's best to saturate the mound with liquid pesticides.

The boiling-water procedure works roughly 60% of the time. Here's what you should do: Pour 2 to 3 liters of hot water straight on the mound and be careful not to splatter the skin. The best course of action is to wait until the fire ants are in their nest (typically late at night), rapidly sprinkle the water, and then leave the area. The fire ants that do not die may relocate to a new location.

Prevention is the Best Approach

This is the most effective approach to get rid of fire ants that have taken over a large outdoor area. As if feeding chickens, the ant-infested homeowner may toss out handfuls of granules, and the ants will bring them home. Because the homeowner is not in direct contact with the nest, this procedure is safer than throwing pesticide or boiling water on it.

Some granules, however, may be light sensitive and lose their harmful properties before the ants consume them. When treating big yards, a broadcast spreader is more effective. A broadcast insecticide like Ortho's Fire Ant Killer may treat an area up to 5,000 ft2and last up to 6 months.

Broadcast insecticides are also effective in deterring fire ants looking for a new nesting site, so they may be used as both preventatives and kills.

Signs of a Fire Ant Infestation

There are a few indicators that your ants are fire ants. The red imported fire ants are petite and have a reddish/brown appearance. They like to remain outside and away from others in the neighborhood. They may, however, enter inside via the slightest of gaps in their hunt for food.

Don't instantly think red ants in your house are fire ants. Fire ants can be red or black, especially the black male reproductive. In the yard, red imported fire ants make mounds. The mounds resemble loose dirt hills.

There won't be a central hole towards the top, unlike some other ants. But be careful: any threat to the nest may force hundreds of fire ants to pour out of the mound and attack.

Types of Fire Ants

Western harvester ants and pharaoh ants are two ant species that are sometimes mistaken for fire ants. Fire ants are distinguished by their 10-segmented antenna, spineless thorax, and unique mandibles, in addition to their color. A non-professional, on the other hand, will have a tough time identifying fire ants. If you need help, call your local Western Exterminator office.

In the United States, there are 2 primary fire ant species to be aware of: red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) and southern fire ants (Solenopsis xyloni).

Imported Red Fire Ants

Red imported fire ants (also known as RIFA) have been a significant source of concern for homeowners since the extremely aggressive, non-native species are known to develop massive colonies of up to 100,000 individuals deep below.

Southern Fire Ants

Southern fire ants may be found from California to the Atlantic coast. When mounds are disrupted, they construct loose mounds near trees and emerge in great numbers. Southern fire ants feed on other pest species, but their ability to sting and destroy property makes them a problem.

Free Your Space from Fire Ant Infestations with Yale Pest Control

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The name alone can strike fear in even the biggest of men. Fire ants are tiny pests that have painful stings and bites. We at Yale Pest Control ensure that your homes and commercial buildings are safe from ants on walls. Our effective ant control methods ensure that these persistent pests by using insecticide baits and fast-acting insecticides.

Get your peace of mind back and call us now at 800-750-9253.