Is It Dangerous To Have Pavement Ants Around My Charlotte Home?
The dangers of a pest infestation are rarely as simple as asking, “Is this thing going to harm me or my loved ones?” Such thinking often leaves homeowners unprepared to spot the early signs of an infestation. Even simple nuisance pests can bring big problems. While some bugs, like pavement ants, don’t cause direct harm themselves, knowing how to prevent them will save you a lot of time and money in the long run.
What Are Pavement Ants?
Pavement ants are just one variety of small nuisance ant that commonly invades U.S. homes. While they aren’t dangerous themselves, it’s important to know how to differentiate pavement ants from other species that might pose greater risks to the health of your Charlotte property and family.
Size: Like nearly every type of ant in the world, pavement ants are incredibly small, usually only a few millimeters in length. As such, the naked eye can’t tell the difference between a few tiny ticks on a ruler, so you’ll need to spot some other traits to know what species you’re dealing with.
Color: Pavement ants are black in color, which differentiates them from dangerous red fire ants that carry a painful sting or yellowish pharaoh ants that spread diseases. However, there are many other dark-colored varieties of ant, and some are more dangerous than pavement ants.
Behavior: Pavement ants tend to stick outside, in the cracks in the sidewalk or beneath a forest of grass. They mostly go indoors to forage for food and can be attracted by sweet-smelling aromas or traces of sugar. Other species of ants forage for food, too, but pavement ants won’t damage household woods like carpenter ants or be attracted to electrical wiring like crazy ants.
Problems From Ant Infestation
While pavement ants themselves are considered nuisance pests — ones that don’t harm humans directly — they still shouldn’t be ignored if they make it inside your home or business. All of the following can be caused by these nuisance pests:
Contamination: Ants forage everywhere for food, which means they can get inside of packaging and contaminate sources directly. They can also contaminate the surfaces where food is prepared.
Other pests: When an ant colony moves in, so do other pest populations. Bugs and birds that eat ants will follow them inside and you could end up with more than a simple ant infestation on your hands.
Unsightly: Aside from the indirect harms of ants, they are still bugs and the world at large finds them creepy. Any good host will not want to scare off or gross out their guests with an active infestation of any kind.
Household Ant Prevention
To make sure ants don’t bring a host of problems in with them, it’s best to be preventative and reduce the factors that attract ants to your property:
Seal cracks: As small bugs, ants can squeeze through impossibly tiny cracks or holes in the exterior of your home. Frequently check the walls and foundations of your home, including the areas around window and door frames, and do proper maintenance where necessary.
Limit food traces: Keeping a clean home is important for many reasons, keeping pests away is chief among them. Make sure to clean under heavy appliances and in deep corners.
Maintain landscaping: Nearly all bug infestations start outside the home and move indoors. Keep natural habitats trimmed back from your home’s walls and windows by maintaining tree branches, grasses, and soil beds at a safe distance of at least a couple feet.
Total Ant Control Is A Call Away
It’s always better to partner with experts rather than trying to deal with a problem on your own. While at-home prevention and store-bought solutions can buy you time and help with pest prevention, only professional solutions can quickly eliminate an ant population and make sure it doesn’t come right back.
For proper and complete home pest control and for more advice or assistance on spotting the early signs of pest infestations, contact ProForce Pest Control today.
Our certified pest experts will work with you to find the best solution for your needs. Simply fill out this form for a free, no-obligation estimate.
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(704) 761-7621
ProForce Pest Control
5245 Old Dowd Road Unit 4
Charlotte, NC 28208
(704) 761-7621
charlotte@proforcepest.com
ProForce Pest Control
5245 Old Dowd Road Unit 4
Charlotte, NC 28208
(704) 761-7621
charlotte@proforcepest.com