Ant Identification & Prevention

With more than 700 species of ants living across the country, you can be sure that one of those species will eventually find its way onto your home or business in the greater Chicago area. Ants can survive almost anywhere, including near people. Ants live together in large nesting colonies and divide their members into specific groups or "castes." Each caste is responsible for completing a particular job.

These social insects communicate with each other with almost military precision. Worker ants leave their nest each day to search for food. Once they find a food source, they will alert their colony by laying down pheromone trails. The ants will keep returning to gather the food and bring it back to the nest, their presence being a huge annoyance for Illinois homeowners. 

Some ants are dangerous, but whether they are dangerous or not, they are all a nuisance and shouldn't be allowed to feel comfortable in our yards or houses. As ants travel across the ground, they pick up bacteria on their legs and bodies that contaminate food sources and surfaces in your home.

Ants considered dangerous can cause one or more of the following problems.

• Biting
• Stinging
• Spreading disease
• Producing foul odors
• Causing structural damage

The best way to identify the ants on your property and the problems they cause is to partner with a local pest professional. Professionals can quickly and accurately identify the species present and quickly eliminate them. 

Our yards in western Chicago's suburbs offer ants multiple sources of food. Things like gardens, pet feeding areas, trash cans, compost piles, and hummingbird feeders provide ants with the food necessary to ensure the success of their colony.

Once ants are regularly foraging for food in your yard, it won't take long for them to move their search inside. They move in and out of homes through small spaces they discover on the exterior. While most ants prefer to nest outside, they often build satellite nests behind our home's walls for easy access to food and water. 

There are many places to find ants nesting. Partnering with an ant control professional to locate and eliminate all the ant nesting sites on your property is key to preventing an infestation. 

Most ant colonies nest in the ground in damp soil. The soil under rocks, leaf piles, sidewalks, and landscaping ties are common nesting sites. Some prefer to build their nests in open sunny areas like yards and parks, while others nest inside the wood in fallen trees or a home's structural wood.

When ants move into a house or other structure to nest, wall voids, vents, crawl spaces, and pieces of electrical equipment are places they call home. 

Ants are difficult to control and prevent. Luckily the experts at EcoGuard Pest Control know the ants around the Chicago area and how to stop them from taking over residential and commercial properties.

Property owners in the greater Chicago area have made sure they could count on us to offer the most advanced pest management options that are effective, eco-friendly, and safe for kids and pets. For more information about ant control in Illinois, please call today. 

While partnering with a professional is the best way to handle an ant infestation, making changes in and around your home can help you maintain an ant-free home. Below are some of our best ant prevention tips: 

• Never store trash cans near your home's exterior, and make sure all trash cans have secure lids.
• Regularly remove trash from your home and regularly remove trash from your property. 
• Carefully inspect your home's exterior and use silicone caulk to seal any gaps or cracks you discover.
• Keep screens on chimneys and vents and seal spaces around utilities entering your home. 
• Maintain a crushed stone barrier between mulch or soil and your foundation.
• Regularly vacuum and wipe down surfaces in your home to remove crumbs and sticky spills that will attract the attention of ants. 

Please reach out today to learn more about our home pest control solutions.