Pest Control St. Louis

Damage from Termites

Owing to their timber- eating habits, many termite species can do great injury to unprotected buildings and various wooden structures. Their trait of remaining concealed often results in their presence being undetected until the timbers are severely damaged and exhibit surface changes. Once termites have entered a building, they do not limit themselves to wood; they also damage paper, cloth, carpets, and various cellulosic materials. Particles taken from soft plastics, plaster, rubber, and sealants like silicone rubber and acrylics are oftentimes employed in construction.

Humans have moved many timber-eating species between continents, but have also caused drastic population decline in others through habitat loss and pesticide application.

Safeguards:

According to a website made for pest control in St. Charles, MO http://www.2niceguys.com, it is advised to ALWAYS contact a specialist when you feel that there might be termites present at your house. They also suggest that you keep mulch clear of your house and wooden deck.

Here are another safeguards that might be of use

* Avoid contact of predisposed wood with ground by employing termite-resistant concrete, steel, or masonry foundation with appropriate barriers. Nonetheless, termites are in a position to bridge these with shelter tubes, and it has been known for termites to chew through piping made of soft plastics and even some metals, like lead, to exploit moisture. Generally, new buildings ought to be constructed with embedded physical termite barriers so that there are no easy means for termites to gain concealed entry. While barriers of poisoned soil, so called termite pre- therapy, have been in the main use since the 1970s, it is better that these be use just for existing buildings without effective physical barriers.

* The intent of termite barriers (whether physical, poisoned soil, or some of the new poisoned plastics) is to stop the termites from gaining unseen admission to structures. In most situations, termites attempting to enter a barriered building will be forced into the less favourable approach of building shelter tubes up the outer walls, and therefore, they might be visible both to the building occupants and an array of predators.

* Wood remedy.

* Use of timber that is naturally resistant to termites such as Syncarpia glomulifera (Turpentine Tree), Callitris glaucophylla (White Cypress), or one or more of the Sequoias. Note that there is no tree species whose every person tree yields only timbers that are immune to termite damage, so that even with well known termite-resistant wood types, there will from time-to-time be pieces that are attacked. No species of tree produces wood that is absolutely immune to damage from every species of termite, some individual pieces of timber can be attacked.

When termites have already penetrated a building, the first action is normally to destruct the colony with insecticides before removing the termites' means of access and fixing the problems that encouraged them initially. Baits (feeder stations) with small quantities of disruptive insect hormones or other very slow acting toxins have become the preferred least-toxic management tool in most western countries. This has replaced the dusting of toxins direct into termite tunnels that had been widely done since the early 1930s (originating in Australia). The principle dust toxicants have been the inorganic metallic poison arsenic trioxide, insect growth regulators (hormones) such as triflumuron and, off late fipronil, a phenyl-pyrazole. Blowing dusts into termite workings is a highly skilled process. All these slow-acting poisons can be distributed by the workers for hours or weeks prior to any signs occur and are capable of destroying the whole colony. More up to date variations include chlorfluazuron, diflubenzuron, hexaflumuron, and novaflumuron as bait toxicants and fipronil and imidacloprid as soil poisons. Soil poisons are the least-preferred method of control as this needs much larger doses of toxin and results in uncontrollable release to the surroundings.

Termites

The termites are a grouping of eusocial insects usually classified at the taxonomic rank of order Isoptera (but see also taxonomy below). Together with ants and some bees and wasps which are all placed in the separate order Hymenoptera, termites divide labor among gender lines, produce overlapping generations and maintain young collectively. Termites mostly eat dead plant material, more frequently than not in the kind of timber, leaf litter, soil, or animal dung, and about 10% of the estimated 4,000 species (about 2,600 taxonomically known) are economically significant as pests that can cause serious structural injury to buildings, crops or plantation woods. Termites are major detritivores, specifically in the subtropical and tropical regions, and their recycling of wood and other plant matter is of considerable ecological importance.

As eusocial insects, termites reside in colonies that, at maturity, number from several hundred to several million individuals. Colonies utilize a decentralised, self- organized systems of activity guided by swarm intelligence to exploit food sources and environments that couldn't be accessible to any single insect acting alone. A normal colony incorporates nymphs (semi-mature young), workers, soldiers, and reproductive individuals of both genders, often containing several egg-laying queens.

Termites are from time-to-time called white ants, though they are not intimately linked to true ants.

female that has flown, mated, and is ovulating is referred to as a queen. Likewise, a male that has flown, mated, and stays in proximity to a queen, is termed a king. Research using genetic methods to work out relatedness of colony members is indicating that the though. In the families Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae, and perhaps others, sperm competition does not appear to occur (male genitalia are very simple and the sperm are anucleate), suggesting that just one male (king) more frequently than not mates within the colony.

At maturity, a primary queen has as a big capabilities to lay eggs. In physogastric species, the queen adds a surplus set of ovaries with each molt, ending in a greatly distended stomach and increased fecundity, often reported to extend to a production of greater than two 1000 eggs a day. The distended abdomen increases the queen's body length to several times more than previously mating and reduces her power to move freely, though attendant workers provide assistance. The queen is widely regarded a source of pheromones helpful in colony integration, and these are considered spread through shared feeding (trophallaxis).

The king grows only slightly larger after initial mating and continues to mate with the queen for keeps. This is very different from ant colonies, in which a queen mates once with the male(s) and stores the gametes always, and the male ants die shortly after mating.

Pest control in Saint Charles, MO seems to be booming thanks to the very dry season. http://blog.2niceguys.com had a link to a writing showing how destructive termites actually are along with pictures of termites hatching.

The winged (or 'alate') caste, also called the reproductive caste, are more often than not the only termites with well-developed eyes (although workers of some harvesting species do have well-developed compound eyes, and, in other species, soldiers with eyes often times appear). Termites on the path to becoming alates (going through not finished metamorphosis) form a sub-caste in certain types of termites, functioning as workers ('pseudergates') and likewise as potential supplementary reproductives. Supplementaries have the proportions to exchange a dead primary reproductive and, at least in a few species, several are recruited once a primary queen is lost.

In areas with a different dry season such as St. Charles, MO, the alates leave the nest in large swarms after the first good soaking rain of the rainy season. In other regions, flights can come about all through the year or more commonly in the spring and autumn. Termites are nearly poor fliers and are readily blown downwind in wind-speeds of less than 2 km/h, shedding their wings right after landing at an acceptable site, where they mate and attempt to form a nest in damp timber or earth.

Damage from Termites

Attributable to their wood- dietary habits, many termite species can do great harm to unprotected buildings and different wooden structures. Their trait of remaining concealed often results in their presence being undetected until the timbers are severely damaged and exhibit surface changes. Once termites have entered a building, they don't limit themselves to timber; they also damage paper, cloth, carpets, and various cellulosic materials. Particles taken from soft plastics, plaster, rubber, and sealants like silicone rubber and acrylics are frequently employed in construction.

Humans have moved many wood-eating species between continents, but have also caused drastic population decline in others through habitat loss and pesticide application.

Precautions:

According to a internet site made for pest control in Saint Louis, MO http://www.2niceguys.com, it is recommended to ALWAYS contact an expert when you believe that there may well be termites present at your home. They also suggest that you keep mulch faraway from your property and porch.

Here are another precautions that may be of assistance

* Avoid contact of predisposed wood with ground by employing termite-resistant concrete, steel, or masonry foundation with right barriers. Nonetheless, termites are able to bridge these with shelter tubes, and it has been known for termites to chew through piping produced with soft plastics and even some metals, like lead, to exploit moisture. In general, new buildings should be constructed with embedded physical termite barriers so that there are no easy means for termites to gain concealed entry. While barriers of poisoned soil, so called termite pre- remedy, have been in the main use since the 1970s, it is best that these be used only for existing buildings without effective physical barriers.

* The intent of termite barriers (whether physical, poisoned soil, or some of the new poisoned plastics) is to avoid the termites from gaining unseen admission to structures. In most instances, termites attempting to enter a barriered building will be forced into the less favourable approach of building shelter tubes up the exterior walls, and thus, they might be clearly visible both to the building occupants and an array of predators.

* Wood remedy.

* Use of wood that is naturally impervious to termites such as Syncarpia glomulifera (Turpentine Tree), Callitris glaucophylla (White Cypress), or one or more of the Sequoias. Note that there is no tree species whose every person tree yields only timbers that are immune to termite damage, so that even with famous termite-resistant wood types, there will occasionally be pieces that are attacked. No types of tree produces wood that is completely immune to damage from every types of termite, some individual pieces of timber may well be attacked.

When termites have already penetrated a building, the first action is typically to demolish the colony with insecticides before getting rid of the termites' means of access and fixing the issues that encouraged them initially. Baits (feeder stations) with small quantities of disruptive insect hormones or other very slow acting toxins have become the preferred least-toxic management tool in most western countries. This has replaced the dusting of toxins direct into termite tunnels that had been widely done since the early 1930s (originating in Australia). The primary dust toxicants have been the inorganic metallic poison arsenic trioxide, insect growth regulators (hormones) such as triflumuron and, off late fipronil, a phenyl-pyrazole. Blowing dusts into termite workings is a highly skilled process. All these slow-acting poisons can be distributed by the workers for hours or weeks prior to any signs occur and are capable of destroying the entire colony. More up to date variations include chlorfluazuron, diflubenzuron, hexaflumuron, and novaflumuron as bait toxicants and fipronil and imidacloprid as soil poisons. Soil poisons are the least-preferred way of control as this requires much larger doses of toxin and leads to uncontrollable release to the surroundings.

Grey Squirrels are about 18 ins long nose to tail. During the wintertime months the grey squirrel can be identified by its salt and pepper body, tan specks in its tail and its white belly. Its body color changes to a yellowish brown during summer months. The grey squirrel has small ears and a huge busy tail. Those found in Ontario and Quebec have a more dominate black color in their fur while people in the United States have grey as the more dominate color. Albino squirrels have been discovered on occasion, but are uncommon. Grey squirrels use their tail for balance when climbing trees, as a blanket during wintertime months, and also as a correspondence tool by flicking it to and fro to alert danger and to give its position to other squirrels. The grey squirrel gets it name from the Greek words skia, meaning shadow, and oura, meaning tail, because when it sits upright the tail curves up to their rear and shades them from the sunlight.

The Grey Squirrel and Red Squirrel are considered tree squirrels; ground squirrels include Arctic Ground Squirrel, Thirteen Lined Ground Squirrel and various others in the ground squirrel group, Order of Rodents (Rodentia.)

Although the grey squirrel spends most of its life climbing and descending trees, it gathers most of its food from the ground during the evening hours. Located in woods and urban areas, the grey squirrel slides sideways around tree trunks to exclude of sight of its predators and likewise remains perfectly still at times to make itself more difficult to see. Briskest at dawn and dusk, the grey squirrel gathers different kinds of food during each season. During the early spring it gathers maple tree buds, in the summer months it compiles berries, wild fruits, seeds, nuts and apples and during the fall it eats nuts, acorns, hickory nuts, butternuts, walnuts, beechnuts and pine seeds. They also eat insects, caterpillars and bird eggs. The Grey squirrel finds its food by using its sense of smell.

Adult grey squirrels breed twice a year usually January to February and June to July. Females sit at the top of trees and make a "duck-like" call to get the males attention. Male adults then gather below the female who ensues a chase from tree to tree. Once she stops running, she mates with the male leading the pack. After mating, the male has no role in helping with the young. Female grey squirrels have one to six babies per litter. At birth the babies are called "pinkies" since they're born blind and without fur. They gain their hair at around three weeks old and are then called kits, kittens or pups. Once a kit is twelve weeks old, it leaves the nest. The nest of the grey squirrel is made in the cavities of trees occasionally in used woodpecker holes. If there are no cavities available, the grey squirrel will build its nest between tree branches. The outside of the nest is made of twigs and leaves, while the inside is made of moss, grasses and bark. During the winter months, the man and female grey squirrel share a winter children's play room, yet in the summertime they each find their own separate study. The males den is normally larger than the females.

The enemies of the grey squirrel are weasels, red foxes, bobcats, wolves, raccoons, snakes, hawks and owls. The grey squirrel carries ticks, lice, fleas, tape and round worms and scabies that takes off their fur leaving them vulnerable to common colds and infections.

The grey squirrel can become a nuisance if found in attics. They also dig up bulbs in gardens, drive birds faraway from feeders and cause damage to crops. They destruct forests by stripping the bark from tree trunks and branches leaving the trees vulnerable to disease and going hungry for nutrients.

Introduced in Great Britain and parts of Europe in the early 1800s, the grey squirrel has been pushing the red squirrel out of its habitat by competing for resources. Grey squirrels are larger and stronger, can put on more fat to survive the cold winters and thus hoards more food. They also are more adaptable to their environment and have been identified as a way to carry the Parapox Virus which red squirrels are not immune to. Owing to these aspects, the red squirrel is now listed on the endangered species list in Europe.

Acrobat Ant

Latin Name: Crematogaster ashmeadi

Features: Medium sized, mostly shiny ant with heart shaped abdomen that is oftentimes bent up over the thorax when ant is disturbed.

Color: Color variable from light reddish brown to brown or black.

Other: Slow to moderately fast moving ant. May forage in tight foraging trails similar to white-footed ant trails, but only acrobat ant bends the stomach up over the thorax. Acrobat ants also run slower than white-footed ants when disturbed.

Habitat: Acrobat Ants are found in the Southeastern United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia), but can be located in parts of Missouri

Like all ants, the acrobat ants may produce winged, reproductive individuals (males and women) called swarmers. These sexually developed adults emerge from a founded colony, normally in the fall, to disperse and commence new colonies. The swarmers are harmless, but they may well be the start of an infestation. Special therapy of swarmers beyond vacuuming or sweeping them up is not required.

Outside the home, you will generally find Acrobat ants in an assortment of dead and decaying wood. Firewood appears to be one of their preferred homes. In all cases, the timber they occupy will be dead. The acrobat ant never inhabits a healthy or live piece of timber, which is why they like a few of the woodworkings around your house. They have a nasty trait of creating cavities in wood, especially if that wood is moist. They will even nest in foam heat retaining material board if weather is right. One way to recognize their intrusion into your wood is to look for sawdust or other frass materials around suspected nest areas.

Several species of small to medium-sized ants are occasional pests around the home. One of these is named the acrobat ant as a consequence of the direction the worker ants carry their abdomens above the rest of the body as if they were performing a balancing act. Acrobat ants are longer than 1/8th inch. They vary in color from yellowish brown to dark brown, and the heart-shaped stomach is commonly darker than the remainder of the body. Magnification is required to see a pair of spines on the back edge of the middle section of the body that helps identify this ant from other species. The trait of the workers to carry their abdomens rising when they're disturbed is more than likely the best method to distinguish this species.

Acrobat ants may nest both outside and indoors. Outdoor nests are most often in dead and decaying wood such as logs, stumps, dead trees limbs, firewood and hollow tree cavities. They may nest in damp soil beneath leaf litter or rocks. The small worker ants readily enter buildings through crevices around windows and doors and different openings. Trails of workers may be viewed moving between the nest and a food source. Acrobat ants eat a selection of foods, including other insects and sweets.

When acrobat ants nest indoors they are commonly inside wood or cavities kept moist with water from leaks. They can also nest in foam heat retaining board or sheathing. As they excavate the large galleries used as nest sites, sawdust may well be deposited near the nest area.

How to Get Rid of Acrobat Ants?

As reported by a Pest Control company in St. Louis, acrobat ants entering from outdoors can be managed by sealing the exterior cracks through which they enter, using a residual insecticide barrier along the foundation, or by treating the ant nest if the location can be determined through careful inspection and observation.

Ant colonies living within the walls ought to be treated by eliminating any moisture problems (if present) and by injecting household insecticide spray or dust into infested wall voids. An exterminator can take care of this or for small problems, you can do it yourself. It can be essential to drill small holes to achieve this treatment.

Insecticides containing pyrethroids are around for homeowners for outdoor use. Always follow labeled directs.

Visit your local retailer to discover a ready-to-use insecticide labeled for ants. Read and follow the directions on the label.

Preventing Diseases in Fruit Trees

If you maintain any pitted fruit trees such as plums, peaches, or cherries, I'm sure you know that those types of trees are much more susceptible to diseases than any other type. While the fruits are delicious, it may be rather hard to live with all of the maladies that can plague the life of everyone who has ever grown one of those sorts of fruit trees.

The main ailment that you will hear about the most is recognized as “Brown Rot”. This is a fungus that attaches to nearly all of the leftover fruits after the picking season is over. Not just does it look disgusting on the leftover fruits, but it is additionally can return on the newer fruits, rendering them inedible (unless you love eating fungus). To avoid this malady, you should prune your trees often to encourage good air circulation. Buildups of moisture are the chief cause of the brown rot. Also when you are carried out picking for the season, you ought to remove all of the leftover fruits in the tree or on the ground.

A cytospora canker is a disgusting dark, soft area on tree branches. Gum protrudes through the bark, together with a huge callus. The pathogen which causes these cankers usually enters the tree through older wounds. If you prune all of the sprouts that occur in late summer, cankers will have a harder time making themselves known within your tree. When you prune, always permit the wounds to heal naturally as opposed to use the wound dressings that you can purchase at gardening stores. I've found that these usually do hardly any to help any situation, and only assist make the tree look unnatural.

Those planting plum trees might deal with something called Black Knot. The signs of black not are rough tumors or growths that can be observed on the tree's branches. If you see any of these, you ought to immediately chop off the branch it has attached to. If you use branches for mulch usually, don't for this one. This complaint can simply re-enter the tree if it is within a particular distance.

Nearly everyone who has ever maintained a cherry tree has dealt with the “Cherry Leaf Spot”. It usually shows itself when there are old dead leaves accumulated on the ground. Preventing this disease is fairly simple. All you have to do is be fairly diligent in raking up all of the leaves that fall from your tree. If you have already seen signs of the disease, you should destroy all of your raked leaves. If not, then you should be able to give them a try as mulch.

When your fruits ripen and become ready for picking, you ought to always be completely finished with picking within 2 weeks. It is better to daily go outside and pick all of the new ripe fruits, along with any that have fallen off of the tree or are beginning to rot on the tree. This way, you will prevent bees and wasps from becoming too addicted to your tree for nourishment.

Growers of fruit trees are constantly faced with diseases and pests to worry about. However, if you take the proper safeguards then you are able to avoid most of them. You should likewise search for any diseases that have been affecting your local area, and try to take steps to avoid those as well.

Argentine Ant

Latin Name: Iridomyrmex humilis

Traits: It is a tiny, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes searching for food and water..

Color: dark-colored

Other: It is in addition light to dark brown in color, and it has six legs, as with other insects. The Argentine ants' antennae have twelve segments. The thorax joins the abdomen by a thin pedicel, a thin stalk.

Where can they be discovered? Outdoors in soil, under timber, slabs, debris, mulch, or in branches and cavities of trees and shrubs

Shallow, 1- to 2-inch deep mounds in open, often disturbed habitats, either moist or dry

The most frequent ant in southern California is the Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis). This ant can likewise be found in the low eastern US area. As reported by Wild (2004), this species was originally described in the genus Linepithema by Mayr in 1866; therefore, the correct binomial should be Linepithema humile. It is a tiny, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes searching for food and water. They are specifically like sweets, but will feed upon practically any food. They love hard boiled eggs and carry small yellow clumps of yolk back to their nest in endless ant columns.

These ants are exceedingly well adapted to urbanized areas of the US with mild climates and well-watered gardens. They pose an important threat to native wildlife by upsetting fragile food webs. They are especially formidable as a result of their aggressive behavior and the massive size of their colonies which can literally "team up" with other colonies.

If you reside in southern California, you in all probability have observed endless single file columns of uninvited six-legged guests walking through your house. They follow a pre-marked pheromone "scent" trail firstly established by scouts who were looking for goodies in your pantry. Although they like the outdoor life style, they primarily enter houses for food and water. They are fond of sweets, tuna, syrups (even cough syrup), juices, eggs, dead spiders and rodents, vomit, faeces and just about any other organic material they can find. They are essentially scavengers and they play a valuable role in the natural ecosystem–but preferably in Argentina. In hot, dry weather they often search your house for water, including bathroom taps and drains. I once followed an ant safari into my bathroom where they were neatly stacking their precious cargo of tiny eggs inside my toilet tank. They also relish the "honeydew" secretion of aphids, and look after their aphid friends from natural predators. In the fall months as the nights get very cold, they once more seek the warmth and shelter of your cozy home.

The first Argentine ants set foot on U.S. soils in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their load in New Orleans. Being prolific breeders and constantly busy, they moved across the southern half of the United States. A single colony might comprise 10,000 female workers, and there may be many hundreds of colonies around your home; the total amount of ants could easily reach a million. Although they cannot sting, they can bite; nonetheless, they are only about 3 mm long and there tiny mandibles are too small to hurt humans. But, globally of insects, these ants are truly a living terror. They're very aggressive and readily overtake other ant species, even ants that are much larger and with powerful stings. Argentine ants are relentless and merely outnumber their adversaries until the enemy colony is destroyed. They even attack paper wasp nests under the eaves of a house, forcing the massive wasps to flee their nests in terror. Even nests of large carpenter bees are no match for these relentless ants. A "killer bee" nest probably could not withstand an encroachment in Argentine ants. They also will attack bird nests, driving off the mum bird and killing the helpless young. One possible redeeming quality about these little warriors is that they could attack dry- timber (aerial) termite colonies in your house. I have seen this Lilliputian massacre in a termite infested table in the Palomar College greenhouse.

Most ant colonies are very territorial, and will fight different colonies of the same species. Since Argentine ants in the United States arose in the original colonizers in Louisiana, they are all closely linked with alike DNA. They evidently will accept ants from different colonies as guests of their gigantic family. In fact, Argentine ants from different colonies will in reality "team up" and attack together in vast swarms. They only outnumber and overpower their enemy.

Argentine ants have become a difficult threat to the coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) in southern California. The main food source for these endangered lizards are native harvester ants, particularly the California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus). I spent a number of years observing this interesting red ant while grown up in San Gabriel Valley, and I am able to personally testify that it provides a uncomfortable sting. As of 2006, this large red ant is seldom seen in urbanized areas of coastal southern California.

California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus), primary diet of coast horned lizard.

Urbanization has certainly been a factor in the demise of California harvester ants, but an even greater factor leading to the liquidation of native ants and coast horned lizards is the aggressive Argentine ant. Apparently the horned lizard is not like Argentine ants, and is in reality attacked by them in enormous swarms. Colonies of Argentine ants need a damp area to survive, and have not invaded a few of the dry habitats where native harvester ants and desert horned lizards (P. platyrhinos) still live. Obviously, they can readily colonize urbanized desert areas inhabited by people. Well-watered gardens with stepping stones and concrete slabs provide the idea living requirements for these ants. In their native Argentina they live under rocks.

Coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum).

Argentine ants are a terrible nuisance in gardens and orchards because they tend and look after scale insects and aphids. They even carry aphids to the tender buds of your prized roses. In return, the ants consume a sweet secretion from the aphids called "honeydew." In addition, swarms of these ants will invade orchard trees, destroying the fruit crop. This is especially serious in figs (Ficus carica) where the symbiotic pollinator wasps are destroyed.

Metallic green fig beetles (Cotinus texana) gorging themselves inside a fleshy, ripe syconium of the Calimyrna fig (Ficus carica). Although masses of minute, aggressive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) are likewise foraging in the syconium (white arrow), the beetles are protected by their tough, impervious exoskeleton. These attractive beetles spend their juvenile larval stage in the ground, often beneath manure piles, compost and haystacks.

According to entomologist David Faulkner, if you have a 10 x10 foot (3 x 3 m ) patio slab, you might have a million or more individuals and perchance 20 or 30 queens. They get along fine because they're all associated with the original colonizers in Lousiana, perhaps from the original gravid (pregnant) female who arrived there. Workers live a month or more as adults, but queens live up to 10 years or more. With other ants, when the queen dies, the one-queen colony dies because no more ants are being produced. With multi-queen Argentine ants, another queen simply moves in and takes over the role of the deceased queen. In fact, a queen from San Diego would in all likelihood be accepted in a colony elsewhere in California.

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile): A wingless queen and several workers. Although these ants are simply 3 mm long, they're very aggressive and quickly annihilate other ant species, even larger ants with powerful jaws and stings. They overpower other species by their sheer numbers. Argentine ants in the U.S. are descendants of original colonizers that entered Louisiana in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their load in New Orleans. U.S. populations are so closely linked that different colonies with multiple queens can literally merge together into supercolonies. Image taken with Nikon D-90 and 60mm Micro Nikkor AF-S F/2.8G ED Macro Lens using a Phoenix Ring Flash; hand-held at 640 ISO, F-32, 1/125th sec.

In their native homeland of Argentina, different colonies of Argentine ants are not so friendly to one another as their DNA has developed much greater variation. Neighboring colonies may fight each other, even though they are merely 200 yards (200 m) apart. Also there are lots of native predators in Argentina, including fungal leeches and bacterium. The narrow genetic variability that has kept all the California populations on friendly terms may eventually backfire because of excessive inbreeding. Perhaps some day these ants may not have the genetic variability to adapt to a changing environment.

How To Control Invasions of Argentine Ants"

Empty your trash often and ensure your house has no crums and food particles that may attract ants. Make certain that food containers are tightly closed, without residual traces of the food on the sides of containers. These ants can also enter screw-top jars without seals. They follow the spiral threads until they are inside!

Avoid using toxic aerosol insecticides inside your house–unless you don't care about your lungs or your bone marrow.

Try spraying a deodorant detergent (Pine Sol

Argentine Ant

Latin Name: Iridomyrmex humilis

Traits: It is a tiny, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes on the lookout for food and water..

Color: dark-colored

Other: It is also light to dark brown in color, and it has six legs, as with other insects. The Argentine ants' antennae have twelve segments. The thorax joins the stomach by a thin pedicel, a thin stalk.

Where can they be discovered? Outdoors in soil, under wood, slabs, debris, mulch, or in branches and cavities of trees and shrubs

Shallow, 1- to 2-inch deep mounds in open, often disturbed habitats, either moist or dry

The most commonplace ant in southern California is the Argentine ant (Iridomyrmex humilis). This ant can also be found in the lower eastern US area. According to Wild (2004), this species was originally described in the genus Linepithema by Mayr in 1866; as a consequence, the proper binomial ought to be Linepithema humile. It is a tiny, dark-colored ant about 3 mm (1/8 inch) long that invades homes looking for food and water. They are specifically fond of sweets, but will feed upon practically any food. They love hard boiled eggs and carry small yellow clumps of yolk back to their nest in endless ant columns.

These ants are really well adapted to urbanized areas of the US with mild climates and well-watered gardens. They pose an essential threat to native wildlife by upsetting breakable food webs. They are specifically formidable because of their aggressive behavior and the massive size of their colonies which can literally "team up" with other colonies.

If you live in southern California, you likely have seen endless single file columns of uninvited six-legged guests strolling through your home. They follow a pre-marked pheromone "scent" trail firstly laid down by scouts who were searching for goodies in your pantry. Although they prefer the outdoor lifestyle, they primarily enter houses for food and water. They're like sweets, tuna, syrups (even cough syrup), juices, eggs, dead spiders and rodents, puke, feces and possibly any other organic material they can find. They are essentially scavengers and they play a valuable role in the natural ecosystem–but preferably in Argentina. In hot, dry weather they often search your house for water, including washroom taps and drains. I once followed an ant safari into my washroom where they were neatly stacking their precious cargo of tiny eggs inside my toilet tank. They also relish the "honeydew" secretion of aphids, and safeguard their aphid friends from natural predators. In the fall months as the nights get cold, they once again seek the warmth and shelter of your cozy home.

The first Argentine ants set foot on U.S. soils in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their cargo in New Orleans. Being prolific breeders and constantly busy, they moved across the southern half of the US. A single colony might incorporate 10,000 female workers, and there may well be many hundreds of colonies around your house; the entire amount of ants could also reach a million. Although they cannot sting, they can bite; although, they are only about 3 mm long and there tiny mandibles are too small to hurt humans. But, internationally of insects, these ants are truly a living terror. They are very aggressive and readily overtake other ant species, even ants that are much larger and with powerful stings. Argentine ants are relentless and simply outnumber their adversaries until the enemy colony is destroyed. They even attack paper wasp nests under the eaves of a house, forcing the massive wasps to flee their nests in terror. Even nests of large carpenter bees are no match for these relentless ants. A "killer bee" nest probably could not withstand an invasion of Argentine ants. They also will attack bird nests, driving off the mom bird and killing the helpless young. One possible redeeming quality about these little warriors is that they could attack dry- wood (aerial) termite colonies in your house. I have experienced this Lilliputian massacre in a termite infested table in the Palomar School greenhouse.

Most ant colonies are very territorial, and will fight different colonies of the identical species. Since Argentine ants in the US originated from the original colonizers in Louisiana, they are all closely related with the same DNA. They evidently will accept ants from different colonies as members of their gigantic family. In point of fact, Argentine ants from different colonies will actually "team up" and attack together in vast swarms. They simply outnumber and overpower their enemy.

Argentine ants have become an essential threat to the coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum) in southern California. The main food source for these endangered lizards are native harvester ants, particularly the California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus). I spent many years observing this interesting red ant while maturing in San Gabriel Valley, and I am in a position to personally testify that it features a agonizing sting. As of 2006, this large red ant is seldom seen in urbanized areas of coastal southern California.

California harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex californicus), primary diet of coast horned lizard.

Urbanization has certainly been a factor in the demise of California harvester ants, but a greater factor leading to the liquidation of native ants and coast horned lizards is the aggressive Argentine ant. Evidently the horned lizard is not like Argentine ants, and it's actually attacked by them in enormous swarms. Colonies of Argentine ants need a damp area to survive, and have not invaded a few of the dry habitats where native harvester ants and desert horned lizards (P. platyrhinos) still live. Obviously, they can readily colonize urbanized desert areas inhabited by people. Well-watered gardens with stepping stones and concrete slabs provide the idea living requirements for these ants. In their native Argentina they live under rocks.

Coast horned lizard (Phrynosoma coronatum).

Argentine ants are a terrible nuisance in gardens and orchards because they tend and protect scale insects and aphids. They even carry aphids to the tender buds of your prized roses. In return, the ants consume a sweet secretion from the aphids called "honeydew." In addition, swarms of these ants will invade orchard trees, destroying the fruit crop. This is especially serious in figs (Ficus carica) where the symbiotic pollinator wasps are destroyed.

Metallic green fig beetles (Cotinus texana) gorging themselves inside a fleshy, ripe syconium of the Calimyrna fig (Ficus carica). Although masses of minute, aggressive Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) are also foraging in the syconium (white arrow), the beetles are protected by their tough, impervious exoskeleton. These attractive beetles spend their juvenile larval stage in the earth, often beneath manure piles, compost and haystacks.

According to entomologist David Faulkner, if you've a 10 x10 foot (3 x 3 m ) patio slab, you may have a million or more individuals and possibly 20 or 30 queens. They interact fine because they're all connected with the original colonizers in Lousiana, perhaps from the original gravid (pregnant) female who arrived there. Workers live a month or more as adults, but queens live up to 10 years or more. With other ants, when the queen dies, the one-queen colony dies because no more ants are being produced. With multi-queen Argentine ants, another queen simply moves in and takes over the role of the deceased queen. In point of fact, a queen from San Diego would in all likelihood be accepted in a colony elsewhere in California.

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile): A wingless queen and several workers. Although these ants are only 3 mm long, they are very aggressive and quickly annihilate other ant species, even larger ants with powerful jaws and stings. They overpower other species by their sheer numbers. Argentine ants in the U.S. are descendants of original colonizers that entered Louisiana in the late 1890's, as coffee ships from Brazil unloaded their cargo in New Orleans. U.S. populations are so closely associated that different colonies with multiple queens can literally merge together into supercolonies. Image taken with Nikon D-90 and 60mm Micro Nikkor AF-S F/2.8G ED Macro Lens using a Phoenix Ring Flash; hand-held at 640 ISO, F-32, 1/125th sec.

In their native homeland of Argentina, different colonies of Argentine ants are not so friendly to each other as their DNA has developed much greater variation. Neighboring colonies may fight each other, although they are merely 200 yards (200 m) apart. Also the're a great many native predators in Argentina, including fungal leeches and bacteria. The narrow genetic variability that has kept all the California populations on friendly terms may eventually backfire as a result of excessive inbreeding. Perhaps some day these ants may not have the genetic variability to adjust to a changing environment.

How To Control Invasions of Argentine Ants"

Empty your trash often and make sure your home is free of crums and food particles that may attract ants. Make certain that food containers are tightly closed, without residual traces of the food on the sides of containers. These ants can even enter screw-top jars without seals. They follow the spiral threads until they are inside!

Try not to use toxic aerosol insecticides inside your home–unless you don't care about your lungs or your bone marrow.

Try spraying a deodorant detergent (Pine Sol

Acrobat Ant

Latin Name: Crematogaster ashmeadi

Characteristics: Medium sized, mostly shiny ant with heart shaped stomach that is often bent up over the thorax when ant is disturbed.

Color: Color variable from light reddish brown to brown or black.

Other: Slow to moderately fast moving ant. May forage in tight foraging trails similar to white-footed ant trails, but only acrobat ant bends the stomach up over the thorax. Acrobat ants also run slower than white-footed ants when disturbed.

Habitat: Acrobat Ants are located in the Southeastern United States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia), but can be found in parts of Missouri

Like all ants, the acrobat ants may produce winged, reproductive individuals (males and females) called swarmers. These sexually developed adults emerge from a founded colony, normally in the fall, to disperse and start new colonies. The swarmers are harmless, but they might be the first sign of an infestation. Special therapy of swarmers beyond vacuum-cleaning or sweeping them up is not required.

Outside the home, you will usually find Acrobat ants in a mixture of dead and decaying timber. Firewood seems to be one of their preferred homes. In all cases, the timber they occupy will be dead. The acrobat ant never inhabits a healthy or live piece of wood, which is why they like some of the woodworkings around your property. They have a nasty trait of creating cavities in timber, particularly when that timber is moist. They will even nest in foam heat retaining material board if weather is right. One way to distinguish their invasion into your timber is to look for sawdust or other frass materials around suspected nest areas.

Several types of small to medium-sized ants are occasional pests in and around the home. One of these is named the acrobat ant as a result of the direction the worker ants carry their abdomens above the rest of the body as if they were performing a balancing act. Acrobat ants are slightly longer than 1/8th inch. They vary in color from yellowish brown to dark brown, and the heart-shaped abdomen is usually darker than the remainder of the body. Magnification is needed to see a pair of spines on the back edge of the middle section of the body that helps identify this ant from other species. The addiction of the workers to carry their abdomens rising when they're disturbed is likely the best method to recognize this species.

Acrobat ants may nest both outside and indoors. Outdoor nests are most often in dead and decaying timber such as logs, stumps, dead trees limbs, firewood and hollow tree cavities. They could nest in damp soil beneath leaf litter or rocks. The small worker ants readily enter buildings through crevices around windows and doors and other openings. Trails of workers may be seen moving between the nest and a food source. Acrobat ants eat a selection of foods, including other insects and sweets.

When acrobat ants nest indoors they are ordinarily inside timber or cavities kept moist with water from leaks. They can also nest in foam heat retaining board or sheathing. As they excavate the large galleries used as nest sites, sawdust might be deposited near the nest area.

How to Get Rid of Acrobat Ants?

According to a Pest Control company in St. Louis, acrobat ants entering from outdoors may be managed by sealing the external cracks through which they enter, using a residual insecticide barrier along the foundation, or by treating the ant nest if the location can be established through careful inspection and observation.

Ant colonies living within the walls ought to be treated by eliminating any moisture problems (if present) and by injecting household insecticide spray or dust into infested wall voids. An exterminator can take care of this or for small problems, you can do it yourself. It can be essential to drill small holes to achieve this treatment.

Insecticides containing pyrethroids are around for homeowners for outdoor use. Always follow labeled directs.

Go to your local retailer to discover a ready-to-use insecticide labeled for ants. Read and follow the directions on the label.

It is about this moment of year that folks start seeing insects wandering around inside their houses. One of the more evident of these insects is the carpenter ant.

These chunky black ( often times red and black) ants can vary from one-quarter inch for worker ants up to three-quarters of an inch for the queen. Like all types of ants, carpenter ants have a constricted hourglass waist and elbowed antennae. These features distinguish them from the thick-waisted termites with their straight antennae. Ants are closely associated to bees, wasps, and sawflies.

Carpenter ants share with just one annoying addiction with termites. They construct broad nests in wood, including logs, stumps, tree trunks, telephone poles, and, regrettably, buildings. Nests are usually begun in deteriorating timber that has been exposed to moisture. Often, the colony will extend its nest to adjacent, sound wood.

The colonies of carpenter ants are oftentimes long lived. A single fertilized queen founds each colony. She establishes a nesting site in a cavity in wood. She then rears her first breed of workers, giving them food to eat salivary secretions. She does not leave the nest nor feed herself throughout this period. The workers who are reared first assume the chore of gathering food with which to feed the younger larvae. As the food supply gets to be more constant, the colony population grows very rapidly. A colony does not reach maturity and become capable of producing young queens and males until it contains 2,000 or more workers. It could take a colony from three to six years or greater to reach this stage. Annually thereafter, the colony will carry on produce winged queens and males, which leave their nest and conduct mating flights in the spring and summer.

While termites actually eat and digest timber, carpenter ants simply chew and tunnel through it to build their homes. Carpenter ants rarely cause structural injury to buildings, although they can result in significant damage over a timescale of years because nests are so long lived. Damage by carpenter ants can leave household structural timber open to fungus, rots, and various forms of decay. Some recent evidence shows that they can also cause encompassing harm to foam heat retaining material. If faced with chewing through hard timber or soft insulating material to constructor your nest, which would you pick out?

Finding carpenter ants indoors in the wintertime is a sign that they're nesting somewhere within the walls or floors of the building. This is owing to the fact that carpenter ants, like all insects, are cold blooded. Ants active in the wintertime must be originating from a warmed source. Although the air temperature outside is freezing cold, heat from the sunlight or your furnace or timber stove may warm your property walls and stir overwintering ants to activity. Ants located in the spring and summer are often invaders wandering in from outdoors searching for food or drink. In the spring, carpenter ants go through a mass-mating or swarming behavior. During this period carpenter ants raid houses looking for sweets, because one of their normal sources of sugar, the sweet honeydew from aphids, is not available until the weather warms up.

The critical factor in carpenter ant control is treating the nesting area. Locating the nest site is very seldom easy and there are times it could be unthinkable to locate the nest. The most likely sources of carpenter ants are window and door frames and sills, shower and tub enclosure walls, and kitchen and bath plumbing walls.

One or more of the objectives of Integrated Pest Management and one of the reasons we encourage carpenter control by direct nest remedy is to limit the quantity of pesticide applied. Frequently, we can acquire the ants to assist with the therapy.

Their zest for sweets can be their downfall. About the most effective ways to control carpenter ants is to set out poison baits. Attracted to the sweet taste, the worker ants collect the bait and bring it back to the colony, where they share it with the developing larvae and the queen.

It may be important to know what sort of ant you are managing since some ant species prefer different foods. Baits are formulated to work with certain species and will most likely specify which ones on the label.