Ants

The Garden Ant is found throughout the UK particularly where the soil is of a sandy nature. They are common around homes and the workplace; the worker ants enter though cracks in brickwork and around windows in search of food.

There are also Pharaoh Ants, these are small tropical ants and like to be indoors, in hospitals, prisons, blocks of flats etc, anywhere where it is warm

Signs of an Ant problem:

• Ants nest in a number of sites outdoors, in lawns, flower beds, beneath paving flags and at the base of walls.
• Ants like sandy soil so you may find them in the cracks and base of paved paths, in the foundations of houses.
• They cause little trouble unless they get into buildings. This can be highly likely if the ants nest is beneath the floor or just outside the house as ants can find the smallest gap or crack to get in, and in turn lead other ants into the building.
•  Ants follow trails, so when a rich source of food is found this is communicated back to the nest resulting in large numbers of ants following a trail from the nest back to the food source. They especially like sweet foods.
• Nest openings are usually identified by small piles of fine earth.

WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE

Garden worker Ants are 4-3 mm long and are black/brown in colour. The Queen is much larger, about 10mm long.  Pharaoh ants are small about 2mmm long; Queen is 5mms long and is yellow in colour.

REPRODUCTION

• During summer the winged females (the Queens) and males leave the nest on one or two warm afternoons.  During this flight the ants mate. 
• The formation of a new colony starts with a mated winged female; she dies into the earth overwinter and starts a new colony in the spring.

IMPLICATIONS OF HAVING GARDEN ANTS

Ants are not known to cause or carry any diseases, however most people usually discard food that has been fed on by ants.

HOW DO WE GET RID OF ANTS?

We will follow the trails of worker ants back to the nest(s) and if the nest can be exposed and it is safe to do so, the nest can be treated with insecticide. 

If it is not possible to trace the nest an insecticidal spray is used  to treat the outside of the building paying special attention to likely entry points such as door frames, air bricks and waste pipes to create an insecticidal barrier.

We can use gels and liquid feeding baits to help with longer-term control. We provide ongoing contracts for the management and protection against future infestations.