Ants are known as the most prevalent pests encountered around households and buildings. They are also known to invade restaurants, hospitals, offices, warehouses and almost any area where food or water is present.
Ants belong to the insect order Hymenoptera and are close relatives of bees and wasps. Ants are familiar insects living around the household and easily recognised, especially in their common wingless adult forms, known as ‘workers’. Whereas winged ants usually leave the old nest and establish new colonies which are often mistaken for winged termites (alates).
Three main characteristics can be distinguished between ants & termites:
- Body waist – ant’s body constricted waist, and alate’s body has a broad waist
- Wing – ant’s hind wing is smaller than its fronts, and alate’s front & hind wings are about the same size
- Antennae – ants have elbowed antennae, and alates aren’t elbowed antennae.
Life Cycle & Habits
Ants typically nest in the soil and these sites are usually nearby to places where food and water can be easily retrieved such as next to buildings, along sidewalks etc. They can also construct their nest under boards, stones, tree stumps or plants and sometimes under or protected places.
Damage
A long trail of ants may lead from the nests to food sources, causing considerable concern among building occupants and some ants are even aggressive stinging ants such as fire ants (common outdoor ants).
Management
Ant management requires a lot of work in concentric circles as it’s not just monitoring & exclusion. It should focus more on good sanitation & maintenance after proper treatment from a professional pest management company in Singapore.
Most effective treatments for ant management are baits as compared to spray because the food-gathering ants (workers) will share the poisoned bait with other workers and the queen ant in their colonies.
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Colonies begin to shrink soon after the bait kills the queens.
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Both sugary and protein-containing baits may be necessary to manage ants.
Pest Control in Singapore
Currently, we are practicing integrated pest management in Singapore, which is an effective and environmentally sensitive approach to managing pests. Before taking any pest control action, it is important to contact exterminating services in Singapore to accurately identify the pest as the control decision may vary according to species.
After pest identification, inspection and monitoring will be carried out to determine the extent and status of pest infestation in the area or on site. Decisions are to be made based on the pest species, the extent of infestation, available control measures, areas to be treated, etc. Customers must be educated on basic biology of the targeted pest and the importance of sanitation by a local pest control expert in Singapore. Once the control measure is decided, treatment will be carried out. Regular follow up will be conducted by pest control services to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment conducted.
In summary, ants are attracted to areas where food and water are present. After successful treatment of an infested area, the occupants of the area should adhere to proper hygeine and cleanliness, and food storage to keep ants at bay.