Getting rid of ants with JAPCO’s experienced licensed ant pest control technicians has never been easier. We are experts in eliminating ant problems. JAPCO uses the best ant pest control products, methods and know how to rid your home or business of unwelcome ants quickly and affordably.
Ants are highly social insects. Even if you spot just one ant in your kitchen or bathroom, rest assured that there are hundreds more living in places you can’t easily see. Calling the pest control professionals from JAPCO as soon as you see an ant at your property is a wise decision.
Control is dependent on locating the ant colonies. That can be difficult for the homeowner who tries to eliminate this problem on their own. Treating only the ants that are visible will only reduce the numbers and not eliminate the problem. Only a small percentage of ants have left the colony in search of food. The remainder are inside the colony. Therefore, killing ants here and there will never eliminate the problem. While you are killing only the foraging ants the Queens is constantly producing more and more ants. JAPCO Pest Control are experts at finding where the colonies are located and eliminating this problem. Call JAPCO today for Ant elimination.
There are two main types of ant problems that are commonly encountered with an ant problem.
• Ants that live outside and forage inside
• Ants that already have a nest built inside
Food or Shelter that’s why! When ants come inside your home, they are forging for food to bring back to the colony. Ants will also come inside your home to take up residence with you in the colder months. They enter through the smallest openings, forging for water or food. They are in search of either sweet based food or protein/ grease-based foods. Once they find a food source, ants will leave a pheromone trail for other ants to follow. They will nest inside your home and the colony will continue to grow until the problem has been eliminated. The greatest difficulty is locating where these colonies are. The Pest Control Professionals at JAPCO are highly trained and licensed technicians that know where to find where the ant colonies are located.
There are more than 12,000 species of ants in the world!
Ants are social insects that live in colonies which are usually located in the ground, but they may enter your home looking for food or shelter. About 150 species of ants live in Canada but only about 35 of those species commonly infest homes. A detailed knowledge of each species is helpful in knowing how to effectively control them. The main types of ants that you may find in your home in Alberta and Saskatchewan are:
• Carpenter Ants
• Pavement Ants
• Odorous House Ants
• Mound or Thatching Ants
• Pharaoh Ants
Carpenter ants (Camponotus spp.) excavate wood in order to build their nests, resulting in smooth tunnels inside the wood. They can do their excavations in the structural wood of your home (Joists and beams). Finding deposits of coarse sawdust (frass) is a good indicator of their presence. These ants’ range in size from 0.5 centimeter for the worker ants to 2.5 centimeters for the queen. They are black or dark colored, and may be partially reddish.
Many people mistake winged-ants for termites, this happens during the reproduction stages during the breeding season when large female ants grow wings. Carpenter ants might also be mistaken for termites because these ants often leave behind sawdust or shavings around joists or beams.
Pavement Ants (Tetramorium caespitum), which usually make their homes in the cracks in pavements, are small (1.5 – 3 mm long). They are black-brown ants, with paler legs and antennae. Swarms usually appear in July or August along your sidewalks or driveway. Outside, they are generally not a real problem, but they may find their way into your home via tiny cracks or holes – like around wire and pipe entrances.
Odorous House Ants (Tapinoma sessile) are so-called because of their awful coconut-like smell when they are crushed. They range in size from 1.5 – 3 mm long, are usually brown or black, and can make their nests both indoors and outdoors. During intense rain periods they may move indoors because their nest is drenched. They particularly like sugar and foods containing sugar. They can be a problem in the home because of food contamination.
Mound ants (Formica exsectoides) and Thatching Ants (Formica obscuripes) are closely related and are about 4-8 mm in length..They are stocky ants with large heads and powerful jaws. Most are bi-colored, rust red and black, but some species are all black. Anyone who’s walked through sandy farm land or Jack Pine forests has seen them, the large mounds of pine needles and other forest debris, that on a sunny day, are swarming with ants.
Pharaoh ants are light yellowish to reddish brown in color, with workers measuring 1/15 to ½ inch long. Nests are rarely found but occur between walls, under floors, above ceilings, behind baseboards and switch plates usually in multi-famiy buildings. Colonies can be very large with tens or hundreds of thousands of workers and many queens. Baiting is the only control method for these species of ants.
JAPCO will use a combination of control methods to eliminate ant infestations. We may use chemicals, baits, dusts, granules or exclusionary methods. We will do a thorough inspection to locate where the activity is and then carry out our ant elimination service. This may be in your lawn, under your patios, in your flower beds, along your driveway etc.
Slow acting baits. JAPCO uses baits that are chosen based on an understanding of the nutritional needs of the colony. Different colonies may prefer different foods. These baits are slow-acting so that the worker ants will take the bait back home to feed the queen, nest workers, and brood. A fast-acting bait would kill only the foraging ants, leaving the colony intact. Not all baits are delivered at the right time. You need to know what the colony is seeking at the time. Are they seeking protein or sugar? They will only accept the bait based upon what the colony needs at that given time. Ant baits that are slow acting and have the requirements of what the colony needs at the time are very effective in ant control.
Ants are very selective in what food they will accept. If you are a smoker and have the smell of smoke on your hands when you apply a bait, they will not accept it. If the bait has been compromised in any manner the ants will not accept it. Sometimes the homeowner will apply a chemical and a bait to be armed to win the war against ants and this will only backfire if a pesticide is applied anywhere near the bait. They won’t accept it. It is problematic to eliminate an ant problem on your own without having the expertise and know how to do that! This is best left to the professionals at JAPCO!
Chemical Applications – When applied directly to a colony you will have elimination. We apply our pesticide in key target areas of ant activity. Chemical barrier treatments are ideal around the structure of the house or business to protect the structure from ants coming in.
The JAPCO team is standing by, ready to put their decades of experience to your service. Our knowledgeable Customer Service Representatives are well versed in entomology and are here to answer all your ant questions and concerns.
If you need help to get rid of ants from your home or business in Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatchewan or anywhere else in Alberta, call JAPCO today.
ANTS– Ants are social insects that live in colonies with populations that can reach to hundreds or thousands of ants dependent upon the species. They are divided into three distinct groups: the queen, male drones, and female workers. Some colonies will only have one queen and others will have multiple queens. The queen’s function is to lay eggs. Therefore, if you don’t locate the nest and kill the queen you will continuously be battling the war against your ant problem. The workers function is to forage for food to bring back to the nest and to tend the needs of the nest.
Ant Life Cycle – Ants have complete metamorphosis compromised of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. They begin as an egg stage which is laid by a queen ant after she mates with a male ant. The eggs will hatch into a larva and then the adult stage. Their colonies include workers, reproductives, eggs, larva and pupae. Queens are the largest ants in the colony. After development of her first group of eggs, the Queen is cared for by the workers and her primary function becomes egg laying. She has dominance over the colony and coordinates colony development and function. Males perform no function other than to inseminate potential queens. The male dies within a few days after mating. Mating will take place in the nest, on the ground, or in the air. The female workers are sterile females whom care for the new eggs, larvae, and pupae in each succeeding generation. Ant queens can keep laying these eggs for decades, living for up to 30 years, while workers live up to three years and drones only live for a few weeks.
Ant Nests – Ant colonies build structures called nests, which require much effort by the worker ants in the colony to maintain. They prefer to nest in the ground; others will be found in wood, such as dead logs, hollow tress or even wood within a structure.
Ants take care of their colonies– Adult workers will tend to the nest and will move the eggs, larvae, and pupae around within the nest and feed and groom the larvae. When an ant colony nesting in the soil or under a stone or board is disturbed, worker ants can be seen scurrying about carrying these pupae, the smaller larvae and very tiny eggs are also being carried out of sight, away from the intruding source of danger. The female workers are sterile females whom care for the new eggs, larvae, and pupae in each succeeding generation.
Feeding Habits– Some ants will feed on a wide variety of food items, while others will feed on a narrow range of foods. Food preferences depend on the specific needs of the colony. Periods of high egg production typically will require foraging ants to bring back proteins to the queen(s), while other times they prefer sugar or greases for their energy needs. The adult ants are unable to ingest hard, solid food. They ingest only liquid. They can carry food items in their mandibles to bring back to the colony. The larvae will eat the food and regurgitate it to feed the colony.
Ant Facts– Year after year the ant population will only continue to grow and grow. Ants will overwinter in the cold months and go dormmate and will emerge again in the spring. Most ants build nests in soil and some species will infest wood and wood structures. They have the capacity to go deep down into the soil. Carpenter ants will tunnel into wood and create nesting chambers.
They can easily detect the sugars in foods and will immediately start to track them down. Before you set up your picnic, take a look around the area and see how many ants you spot. If there are plenty nearby, it won’t take them long to find your food. Set up away from garbage cans since they are attracted to them. If all else fails take a piece of fruit a put it away from your picnic site and let the ants feed on that away from your picnic.
We are never going to tell you that you are never going to see an ant again. But, there are things that you can do to help combat the war against ants.
• Caulk and seal cracks and crevices.
• If they enter your home clean your floors well with a strong detergent to remove their chemical pheromone trail.
• Trim your trees and bushes so branches do not touch your home.
• Correct any moisture problems such as leaky roofs and plumbing.
• Any rotten or water damaged wood should be removed and stored away from the home.
• Wood and soil contacts should be eliminated.
• Any dead or decaying stumps on your property should be removed.
• Store all firewood off the ground and away from your structure.
• Storing firewood in garage is an invitation to having ant problems in your home.
“Have a perimeter exterior treatment of your structure sprayed each year. This will create a chemical barrier around the outside of your home that will keep ants away. Ask about JAPCO’s Annual Home Protection Plan”.
I put out ant traps but it does not seem to be having any effect?
There are many different types of baits on the market. The one you are using may have too high of a concentration. If the bait concentration is too high it will kill foraging ants before they have a chance to bring it back to the colony. At times the homeowner is looking for quick results and that is not how bait works it takes time for the bait to be propagated throughout the colony and destroy it.
When should I water my lawn, I don’t want to wash your chemical application away?
We ask that you water your lawn 2 days before service and can water your lawn a few days after service. The longer you can go without watering after our service the better.
It rained after you did the application, do I need you to do another application?
We check the weather forecast prior to doing exterior treatments. If we feel the weather isn’t suitable due to rain, we re-schedule these appointments. If it rains after an application is done, we will honor our guarantee and re-treat if you are still having ant activity.
Carla Cochran
Great services & my ant problem is gone. Highly recommended.
James Murray
We had an Issue with carpenter ants .Japco, not only sprayed to deal with our immediate issue, they spent the time to see what was causing the issue. Their level of knowledge and professionalism is very impressive. Highly recommend.
Arpita Mazumdar
My Favorite Pest Control to go to. I love the ever smiling and professional Technicians. They are knowledgeable, thorough & committed. Japco had effectively taken care of my Mice, Wasps and Ants and I have never seen these critters back ever since! 3 Cheers for JAPCO!!! Highly recommended.