What It Takes To Get Rid Of Ants In Your Knoxville Home

It can seem like ants appear overnight in your home. These crawling insects are one of the top problems needing to be addressed by pest control in Knoxville residential areas.

When you see ants in your kitchen or any area of your home, you want to get them out as quickly as possible. To effectively remove these insects from your home, you must first identify the ant species. While there are many types of ants found locally, there are a few ant species that are most commonly found in residential areas in the Knoxville region.

Habits And Behaviors Of Common Home-Invading Ants

Each species of ants in Knoxville has its habits and behaviors. In the Knoxville region, the most common home-invading species of ants are:

• Odorous house ants come inside in search of food. They like sweet foods the most. They move their nests about every three months, depending on the amount of rain in the area. An odorous house ant infestation will typically be near water sources, such as in the walls near water pipes, especially if the lines are leaky. 
• Thief ants are also called sugar ants. They have a habit of creating nests near the nests of other ant species. They do this to steal the food stores, the larvae, and the pupae of the other ants.
• Carpenter ants have a nasty habit of chewing through the wood of your home to excavate a place to establish their nest. 

Most of the time, ants in your Knoxville home are not an extreme health risk. Ants are primarily nuisance insects, but some species can cause significant damage and losses for the homeowner.

An Ant Infestation Can Cause Many Problems In Your Home

Ant control is essential because once ants have decided that your home is the perfect place to build their home, these insects can cause problems for you and your family.

Carpenter ants are destructive because they chew into wood to create nests and tunnels that allow them to move among their nests. These tunnels can cause the wood to be weakened, and over some time, the structural integrity of your home will be in jeopardy. The only way to avoid carpenter ant damage to your home is to identify their presence early and evict them.

Odorous house ants and thief ants cause more problems through food contamination. These species of ants also like to build nests close to water sources. It can be challenging to rid your home of these invaders.

Why It Is So Difficult To Get Rid Of Ants On Your Own

The main reason it is so difficult to get rid of ants on your own is that to be successful in ridding the home of ants, you need the right ant control solutions. Most ant control for homeowners comes in the form of bait stations, powders, and foul-smelling sprays. These treatments are usually advertised as being able to treat almost all ant problems. The problem is that these treatments might stop the ants you see crawling in your kitchen, but they do not reach the nest.

The only way to safely and effectively remove the ants you have and prevent a new infestation is to have a skilled technician inspect your property and develop a custom treatment plan to address the entire infestation. 

The Most Effective Way To Get Rid Of Ants In Your Home

Effective ant control for Knoxville homeowners requires identification of the species, treatments those species respond to, and regular inspections as part of a pest management program.

If you have seen signs of ant presence in your Knoxville, TN, home, call Pest OPS for a free inspection by a skilled technician. We'll identify the ant type, determine where the nest is, treat the current population, and work with you on a maintenance program to keep these nuisance insects from returning.