Ant Problems In Your Home Or Business

Ants are common in homes, gardens and workplaces across the Forest of Dean. Most species live outdoors in soil, lawns and under paving, but they often come inside looking for food and shelter. In large numbers they contaminate food, damage stock and can cause serious hygiene concerns in sensitive sites.

If you have an ongoing ant problem, or repeated trails of ants in your property, it is usually best to ask a professional pest control technician to inspect and treat the issue properly.

Black Ants

Common black ants are social insects that live in large colonies, usually in soil, under paving slabs and in cracks around buildings. They will feed on a wide range of foods, but ants that come into kitchens are usually searching for sugary or high protein foods.

As black ants forage for food they leave scent trails, which other ants follow. This is why you often see long lines of ants moving to and from a food source. Although many people see them as a minor nuisance, they become a serious problem when they are regularly on kitchen worktops, cupboards or food preparation areas.

Black ants are often grouped by where they nest. Some choose wall voids, others prefer ground nesting. Pharaoh ants are the most common wall nesting ant species, while common black ants are the typical ground nesting ants you see in gardens and around patios.

Reasons to control black ants include loss or contamination of stored food, damage to goods, and loss of customer confidence in food premises. If you are struggling to control ants yourself, our technicians can survey the site and recommend a suitable treatment.

Flying Ants

Flying ants usually appear on a hot summer day during a single mating event known as the nuptial flight. Virgin queen ants leave the nest with males, mate while in the air, then land to start new colonies.

Seeing a sudden swarm of flying ants in the garden can be alarming, but it is usually short lived and not harmful. Small numbers can often be treated with standard aerosol sprays.

Professional help is strongly advised if flying ants are emerging from under floorboards, through gaps around skirting boards, or from other indoor areas. This can mean there are one or more established ant colonies under the floors of your property that will keep causing problems unless treated correctly.

Ghost Ants

Ghost ants, sometimes called black headed ants, are a small species about 1.5 mm long. They have a dark head and thorax with pale, almost see through legs and abdomen. Their size and colouring give them their name.

Ghost ants are a newer arrival in the UK, but they are spreading and are now seen more often, especially in housing developments, care homes and hospitals. They behave in a similar way to Pharaoh ants.

Colonies can contain many thousands of worker ants and multiple queens. They prefer sweet foods such as sugar, honey, syrup and jams, but outdoors they also feed on aphids.

Because of the size of the colonies and the nature of the nests, ghost ant infestations require professional treatment using the correct baits and methods. DIY products are unlikely to clear the whole colony.

Red Ants

Red ants are small, aggressive ants that will sting when disturbed. They can quickly ruin time in the garden and are a particular problem on lawns and around patio areas where people walk or sit.

Stings are painful and unpleasant, especially for children and pets. Although treatments are usually straightforward for an experienced technician, control is important where nests are in regular use areas.

Pharaoh Ants

Pharaoh ants are a serious pest species, especially in hospitals, care homes, nursing homes, restaurants and school kitchens. They are very small, can be pale or almost translucent, and are often first reported as "tiny see through ants on the worktop".

Pharaoh ant colonies are usually very large, with workers numbering from many thousands to several hundred thousand. New nests can form by "budding", when a small group of workers, some pre-adult stages and a queen leave the main colony to start a new one. This behaviour makes them difficult to eradicate with basic sprays.

They prefer warm, humid areas near food and water at around 30°C. Nests are often hidden in wall voids, under floors and inside furniture. They commonly use electrical and telephone cables to move through walls and between floors.

In hospitals, pharaoh ants have been found in ducting, drains and outlets where blood, faeces and sputum are present, feeding on the high protein material. They have also been seen on bed frames and in beds where they can contact open wounds before and after surgery. More than a dozen harmful bacteria have been found on pharaoh ants collected in hospital environments.

Because of the health risks and the complexity of the colonies, only professional treatment is appropriate. Incorrect use of insecticide sprays can actually make the infestation spread as colonies split and move into new areas.

Professional Ant Control

Forest Of Dean Pest Control provides ant control for homes, landlords and businesses across the Forest of Dean and surrounding areas. We identify the ant species, locate the main nesting sites where possible and select the most suitable treatment for your property.

Our service includes:

• Survey to identify the ant species and level of infestation
• Targeted treatment using professional products
• Advice on hygiene and proofing to reduce future problems
• Follow up visits where required

If you are seeing regular trails of ants, swarms of flying ants indoors, or tiny pale ants in sensitive areas, contact us for advice and a quotation.