They may be small, but the damage they cause can be significant. Despite their size, ants in McKinney, TX, are capable of causing a lot of damage to your home. There are many different kinds of ants that call McKinney home, and they all have their own unique way of being dangerous to both your family and your home.
Types Of Ants In McKinney
There are many different kinds of ants that you will run into here in McKinney. Here are the most common types:
- Carpenter ants: While these ants are usually black in color, they can also be a combination of black, red, and yellow. They can grow to be about 1/2 inch in length, while queens can grow to be a full inch. Carpenter ants are known for jeopardizing the structural integrity of your home because they bore into the wood of your house and set up nests and colonies within the structure of the building. Left untreated, carpenter ants can do severe damage to your home, possibly making it unsafe for people to live in.
- Fire ants: Much smaller than carpenter ants, fire ants grow to be ? to ¼ of an inch in length, and are reddish-brown in color. These ants are more dangerous to humans than your home, as they are an extremely aggressive ant species. They swarm in large numbers, biting and stinging anything they see to be a threat.
- Sugar ants: This is a general term used to describe a variety of small ant species that commonly invade homes in McKinney. These are the types of ants you find crawling around your kitchen counters and invading your pantries. They carry a variety of bacteria on their bodies, spreading it about your eating utensils as they crawl around your kitchen and home.
When To Be Worried About Ants In Your McKinney Home
If you see an ant or two crawling about in your home, you may dismiss it at first and not think too much about it. While one ant certainly isn’t capable of causing too much of a problem for McKinney homeowners, seeing an ant here and there can, unfortunately, be a sign of a colony establishing itself in your home. If a hoard of ants were to set up shop somewhere in your house, they could cause a multitude of problems:
- Property damage: Carpenter ants can cause serious damage to the structure of your home. If given enough time, carpenter ants will chew their way through the wooden beams of your home, eventually compromising the structural integrity.
- Food contamination: As sugar ants march up and down your countertops, through your pantries, and over your eating utensils, they track bacteria and other dangerous pathogens and spread it to humans. This includes pathogens like salmonella, shigella, E. coli, and staphylococcus.
- Yard damage: If ants are allowed to build their massive colonies in your yard, they can cause impressive damage there, too. They do this by building large mounds that disrupt your lawn, garden, and driveway. Ants will also release an odor that attracts aphids and other insects that decimate vegetable gardens, allowing for even more insects to come and ruin your hard work.
Ant Prevention Tips For McKinney Homes
The best thing a McKinney homeowner can do is take steps to prevent ants from invading in the first place. There are several things one can do to prevent the many different kinds of ants from infesting your home:
- Caulk holes: Go around the house and caulk up any holes that you might find. Ants are obviously capable of squeezing through incredibly tiny holes, so make sure to seal them all up, no matter how small they are.
- Tidy your kitchens: Remove trash from your home immediately. Wipe up spills thoroughly, and sweep all crumbs away. Organize the pantry so it is not cluttered, and ensure that all food is stored in containers that ants can’t chew through
- Clean your yard: Maintain your yard by cutting back any branches and shrubs that brush up against your house, and remove debris piles and logs as soon as possible.
All of these measures work to discourage ants from wanting to infest your home and yard. If they do not have a place to build their mounds, no access points into your home, and no easy access to food, then they will be less likely to pick your home as their own. However, if ants have already settled in, the best thing to do is call Big D Pest & Termite Services and have one of our expert technicians handle the issue safely and effectively. Reach out to us today for effective home pest control in McKinney.