Those small, black ants that you see on almost every sidewalk are pavement ants. Ubiquitous in Salt Lake County and Utah County, they seem fine when they’re outside. Unfortunately, they can infest your home and cause expensive damage.
Understanding the appearance and behavior of pavement ants will help you identify them. And identification is the first step towards extermination!
Luckily for homeowners, pavement ants are monomorphic, which means that males and females look the same. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.
Worried you have a pavement ant infestation? Here are some simple ways to identify pavement ants.
Ants are abundant everywhere in Utah, and pavement ants are one of the most common species around. These ants are attracted to a wide variety of food sources. If you see an ant in your yard or notice an unwelcome visitor in your home, chances are it’s a pavement ant.
One of the reasons that pavement ants are so ubiquitous is because they are well-adapted to urban environments.
As their name suggests, pavement ants can nest under sidewalks and they are also commonly found under the foundations of buildings and patios. Once a scout has found its way into a building through a tiny crack or opening, they leave chemical scent trails that other pavement ants can follow to a food source.
A “food source” can be anything from another insect to something sweet, so you could potentially find a trail of busy pavement ants almost anywhere in your home.
Pavement ants have a sting, but it’s too weak to be dangerous to humans. They are a real nuisance if they infest your home, however. Just a few ants can quickly contaminate food and surfaces and leave trails for thousands more ants to follow.
Pavement ants can cause damage outside the home, too. If they have nested under slabs, driveways or other surfaces, the ground underneath might become compromised. This can eventually cause sagging, movement, or collapse. They also leave unattractive piles of earth by their nests.
Unfortunately, you generally won’t realize you have an issue with pavement ants until they’re already inside.There are some things you can do to try and prevent tiny pavement ants from entering your home so that you never have to deal with a large infestation. Following these tips may dissuade pavement ants from making your kitchen their next target.
If you’ve already noticed pavement ants in your home, don’t panic. There are many natural methods you can try for getting rid of pavement ants. These include:
If you have a serious pavement ant infestation, ant baits may also be effective.
At the end of the day, the best way to remove pavement ants is to call a professional pest control company like H2 Pest Control. Professional treatments are thorough and effective in a way that DIY solutions aren’t.
At H2 Pest Control, we serve homes all across Salt Lake County and Utah County. We can identify and solve your pavement ant problems. Give us a call today!
