Ants

Advantage Pest Control Solutions has the solution to your ant problem. General Pest Control for ants starts at $75.00 for an average size home, and will also control spiders, crickets, waterbugs, crickets, and other crawling insects. See Rates for current prices. Our service comes with a full 60 day guarantee, and once the problem is under control, you can continue your protection with our optional quarterly protection program. We will identify the ant species invading your home, and use a combination of safe, low odor pesticide sprays, dusts, and various baits and bait stations to exterminate your ant problem fast. We treat the problem at the source so the ants stay gone. Call today to see how we can control your ant and pest problems for up to 30% less than our competitors with no contracts or commitments required.

You may be tempted to try to get rid of ants yourself. Often the ants go away for a few days only to return later in greater numbers. a Over-the-counter ant sprays are repellant pesticides and may kill the ants that you see but do not treat the source of the problem and the ants that you see may be a small fraction of the ants that are in the nest. This means that ants can detect the presence of these types of sprays, and exposure to repellent sprays causes ants to "bud" or divide their colony into many colonies. In most cases, this will make the problem worse. Also a colony contains many ants, only the ants that contact the spray will die. Baits are available, but are not as effective as professional baits, and we rely on knowledge and expertise to eliminate your ant problem, something most homeowners do not have.

Ants are a very common pest problem in the St Louis and Metro East and have replaced cockroaches as the number 1 pest in the U.S. There are many types of ants and treatment will vary depending on the ant species. Ants, including carpenter ants, and pavement ants are social insects, like bees and termites they live in large colonies where a queen ant is the only fertile female and is tended to and fed by the worker ants. Ant identification plays an important role in controlling this pest.

Pavement ants in the St. Louis and the Metro East are the most common pest ant. Indoors, Pavement ants may be seen randomly foraging in the home. When a foraging pavement ant finds food, it will leave a chemical trail for the other ants to follow. Ants may be seen in the kitchen or bathrooms along counter tops. Outdoors, Pavement ants are quite small and can often be seen in trails along cracks and seams in sidewalks, driveways, patios, and other paved surfaces, hence the name "pavement ants". Pavement ants can be a problem in homes, restaurants, and shops.

Carpenter ants like the one shown to the left normally live in dead tree limbs, hollow areas in trees and other dead wood, and can be found in trees and yards in nearly any yard in the Saint Louis area that has mature trees. You may see these large ants outdoors quite often. Carpenter ants may occasionally wander indoors but if large numbers of ants are seen indoors or found indoors in the winter there may be a nest inside the structure.

These large ants will sometimes build a nests within wall voids or in attics and crawlspaces and require a more specific treatment and can damage wood, not by actually ingesting it, but by chewing it for nesting material. A recurring sawdust-like substance, or frass, or a large number of large ants, is a strong indication that there is a nest within the structure and treatment is necessary.

Acrobat ants can also be found, slightly larger than pavement ants, with distinct heart shaped abdomens. False Honey Ants and Pharaoh ants are also common.

Argentine ants and pharaoh ants can also be found in limited numbers.

Many ant species in the St. Louis area produce winged reproductive "swarmers", which are similar in appearance to termite "swarmers" in the spring and sometimes fall. Flying ants, especially the larger carpenter ants are often mistaken for termite swarmers, with notable differences between the two. Termite swarmers shed their wings a short time after flight and have wings that are the same length. Ants with wings have wings that differ in length. Another easy identifying difference is that termites have a wide straight waist while ants have a narrow pinched waist. It is also helpful to keep a few insects for identification.