Classification of service: covered under General Pest Control (under 5,000 sq ft yard – over 5,000 sq ft see “Additional Services”)
Biggest threat to warm blooded creatures.
Allergy to fire ants (anophalatic shock) when bitten. Attracted to electrical componenets (ac units, electrical pumps, etc.)
Best controlled with regular maintenance constantly baiting the yard putting out fire ant bait as well as a fiscal spray of fire ant mounds. Most fire ant baits are a “sterilizer” so they cannot reproduce. So in about six (6) weeks they die off without producing more fire ants and this breaks the reproduction cycle.
They are attracted to vibration and often sting the object they are on, if it moves.
Baiting for fire ants from August thru October allows the reduction of the population through the winter.
Fire ants DO bite but the pain we feel does not come from their bite, rather their sting. They grab a hold by biting but then inject us with their stinger.
Odorous House Ants
Classification of service: covered under General Pest Control
They smell like rotting eggs when you squish them.
Colonies can get huge and populations are phenomenal.
Odorous house ants have been known to travel from house to house taking refuge among objects that will conceal their movement.
Not difficult to control with regular service.
Acrobat Ants
Classification of service: covered under General Pest Control
This ant is the most misdiagnosed ant by companies and consumers alike. Because they immolate carpenter ants by appearance as well as characteristics.
They kick out “saw dust” or “debris piles” like carpenters ants but with these ants they are kicking out insulation and dead body parts, not wood.
They don’t have mandibles (teeth) strong enough to chew wood.
A lot of times Acrobat ants will commute with carpenter ants
When these ants are disturbed they raise up their abdomen (last body segment) hence their name “acrobat”.
Carpenter Ants
Classification of service: covered under General Pest Control
These are the most common of the Carpenter Ant family in Texas. They normally live around wooded areas.
Some of these carpenter ants have wings and are commonly mistaken for termite swarmers.
They are a “wood destroying insect” unlike termites these ants don’t consume the wood they excavate it to build places to nest (i.e. in a tree).
They usually attack already damaged wood like deteriorated fascia boards or window trim on a structure.
Rarely will they attack a perfectly good piece of wood.
The red and black carpenter ant is the most commonly found ant in north Texas.
The black carpenter ant, although not the most common found in North Texas, are showing up intermittently in older established neighborhood with really large trees.
They are nocturnal and trail more at night, late evenings or early mornings.
Pharaoh Ant
Classification of service: covered under General Pest Control
These are one of the smallest ants (around 1/16th of an inch) and are sometimes called “sugar ants”.
Very chemical sensitive which means you have to use very low dose products whether it is a bait or a spray.
If they detect the chemical they will just go around it.
A common pitfall of treatment is “budding”. This is when you start putting pressure on the colony with products that they can detect they will start showing up everywhere instead of in one place. One colony will turn into multiple colonies because they come in contact with too strong of a product and they will run from it.
Disconnecting them from their own colony and will create a new colony for survival.
Rover Ants
Classification of service: covered under General Pest Control
Difficult to control and many companies don’t even cover them in their service because they don’t trail like regular ants.
They aimlessly roam around as “singles” without a particular pattern or trail.
Treatment? Could be different at every house.
No set service standard for controlling this ant as of right now.
They are also extremely small like the size of a grain of pepper.
Raspberry Crazy Ants
Classification of service: covered under General Pest Control
Crazy ants have not been confirmed in the Dallas metroplex as of now but will be transported here in the future via infest shipments like compost, potted plants, hay, etc.
Reddish brown ant, do not have stingers but do bite.
Are attracted to electrical equipment.
Because of the sheer numbers of them they will attack smaller animals (eyes, nose) causing them to suffocate.
