If an army of tiny ants invaded your house and none of your pest control ideas or methods worked to remove them, it's time to amp up your ant control measures. Many types of ants venture into residential homes during the year, including pavement ants and banded sugar ants. Ants of any kind can hide in places you might not imagine, including behind your sinks and beneath your floorboards. Amp up your ant control measures with the information below.

Why Is There an Army of Ants in Your Home?

Ants are intelligent insects that work together to forage for food and to rear their young. In order for ants to complete their missions successfully, they sometimes travel great distances from their nests to find food. If ants successfully locate food, such as sugary snacks, bread crumbs, or protein, inside your home, they'll invade it. It won't take long for numerous ants to invade your house.

When ants enter your house, it can be very unsettling. The pests create long intricate trails as they travel back and forth from your home to their established nesting site. The trails allow the ants to communicate with each other and to avoid any predators that may attack them as they travel.

Breaking up the trails with ant spray may not work for very long. The pests will generally create new and safer routes to reach their new food source. You might see trails of ants coming out the cracks in your walls, or you might detect the presence of ants behind the cabinets in your bathroom. Ant trails might even show up inside your pantry or along the floorboards in the kitchen. 

Unless you amp up your ant control measures today, you won't be able to eliminate or stop the ant army in your house tomorrow.

How Do You Eradicate an Army of Ants?

Although it's possible to disrupt ant trails with store-bought bug and ant control sprays, it's generally not the most effective or safe route to take. Some commercial chemicals leave behind strong odors and residues that don't dissipate with time. Some products may cause respiratory distress in small children and vulnerable pets. For example, some types of pesticides can be harmful to dogs and cats. You may need to take a number of precautions to keep your animals safe if you use the wrong pesticide.

In addition, not all ants respond to the same type of treatments. For instance, in order to get rid of some types of ants, you may need to treat their nesting sites. You may also need to apply perimeter guards around your home to keep the pests out of it. If you do try one method but neglect to take other precautions, you may make your ant issue worse.

You may wish to avoid the situations above by contacting a pest control agent near you. Pest control can determine the cause of your ant problem and establish an ant control plan that works best for it. Your ant control plan may include the following:

• locating and marking the source of the ant trails
• applying treatments around your house as well as any other places that attract ants
• treating the inside of your home with ant traps
• establishing a regular treatment protocol 

If you have an ant problem on your porch, sidewalk, or carport, pest control can tackle these areas as well. Ants can build large colonies close to their food sources, so it's important to control the nesting sites as well. 

If you're out of ways and ideas to eradicate the ant armies in your house, contact ant pest control services near you today.