Imagine sitting on your patio, enjoying a glass of ice cold sweet tea. In the distance, you are watching a summer storm creep closer. You then feel one tiny raindrop on the back of your neck. “No problem” you might say, “it’s just one raindrop.” Then all of a sudden the heavens open up and a torrential downpour begins. Now you have a problem. Here in the great state of Texas, we are known to have large colonies of fire ants. Much like one raindrop is no problem at all, one tiny red ant can be easily dealt with. But what do you do when you discover you have an infestation right outside of your walls? A Five Star Termite & Pest Control has all the information you need to solve your problem.
How Can You Tell if It’s a Fire Ant
Fire ants are pretty tiny. They are only 1/8 inch to about ¼ inch in length. Just like other ants, they have three different parts to their body; the head, thorax, and abdomen. They have a dull reddish-brown head and thorax with a darker abdomen with a venomous stinger on the end. They live in a colony with one hundred thousand or more ants in one place.
Why are Fire Ants Bad?
Fire ants are feisty little buggers that become very aggressive when they get disturbed. They attack in swarms and climb up vertically to get places, such as a leg. Fire ants will start to attack you by clamping down with their tiny jaws and sting repeatedly with their painful venom. The sting often causes a burning sensation and can result in itchy blisters at the site of the sting.
How Can You Tell if You have Fire Ants?
These types of ants build mound shaped nests that can be very large, up to a foot high with one hundred thousand or more ants in their colony. They tunnel to the mound instead of having an opening at the top. They like to live in the sun and someplace warm. You will find them in dry fields or in the dirt with soft ground. Common areas that a fire ant may set up shop are farms and gardens. You can also find them around your property after a rainstorm forces the little buggers to the surface.
What Attracts Fire Ants to Your House & Yard?
Fire ants (just like most ants) are looking for food. Make sure you keep the area around your house clean from food, pet food and garbage. Fire ants are tiny and can enter your house through small cracks looking for food. So by keeping crumbs and food off the counters and floors, you can take away their reason to become an uninvited guest in your home.
Ant Pest Inspections, Exclusion, Control, Removal, Management & More in Canyon Lake, Spring Branch, Bulverde, Timberwood Park, Leon Valley, Alamo Heights, New Braunfels, Selma, Live Oak, Converse, Universal City, Cibolo, Seguin, New Berlin, St Hedwig, Adkins, La Vernia, Elmendorf, Losoya, Von Ormy, Macdona & San Antonio, Texas
Although they are tiny, fire ants work as a collective to overwhelm larger creatures. Their stings are rarely fatal to humans, but create certain discomfort and pose a threat to smaller pets. A Five Star Termite & Pest Control can assist you in the early detection and eradication of a developing red ant colony. Call us to schedule your pest inspection and custom treatment plan today!
