Argentine Ants: Southern California’s Insect Invaders

As one of the most pervasive creatures around the globe, Argentine ants’ path to world domination hasn’t gone unnoticed—especially in San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, and Riverside Counties. Masters of propagating their kind, Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) build massive colonies, disrupt the natural order of other species, and intervene in our daily lives with their sheer numbers.

A Long Journey to North America

Nearly two centuries ago, Argentine ants made their way to North America via long-distance jump dispersion due to increased trade and globalization. Native to South American countries like Argentina (hence their name), they accidentally made their way to the United States by boarding cargo ships in Brazil—containing shipments of coffee beans—and traveling to New Orleans in the late 1800s, allowing them to inhabit six of the seven continents around the world.

Proliferating Populations

The key to Argentine ants’ success lies with their superior ability to reproduce and coexist with members of their own kind from different colonies. Featuring more queens per colony than any other species of ants, Argentine ants can have nearly 15 queens for every 1,000 workers and can produce eggs for up to 10 years after mating—allowing the colony to flourish rapidly and consistently. As colonies can grow to numbers in the tens of thousands, hundreds of queens could exist across large areas of land, sometimes hundreds of miles long.

During the reproduction cycle, Argentine ants don’t swarm as other ant species do. Instead, they stick with the colony in their respective nests to mate. However, queens can leave their nests with a group of workers—a natural dispersal technique called budding—to start a new colony if they deem it too crowded. Even then, colonies often stay physically in touch with each other.

Unique to the Argentine ant, these insects lack hostile response mechanisms to members of the same species, which allows workers from different nests to be cooperative with one another and form supercolonies.

Argentine Ant Anatomy

Argentine ants feature three different types of progeny: workers, males, and queens. Workers are 2 to 3 millimeters long with a brown complexion. Males are also extremely small—ranging from 2.8 to 3 millimeters in length—but are winged, dark brown, and have a broader thorax (the section between the head and the abdomen) than their heads.

Queens are larger than workers and males, featuring a body length between 4.5 to 5 millimeters, a dark brown complexion, and a large thorax as broad as their head. Virgin queens also feature long, narrow wings.

Natural Habitats for L. Humile

Argentine ants thrive in Southern California due to our temperate climate, creating outdoor nests in the soil underneath wood slabs and yard debris as well as within the branches or cavities of trees and shrubs. These ants create 1- to 2-inch deep mounds in either moist or semi-dry soil, allowing them to thrive in many different areas around your home or business.

Why You Have Argentine Ants in Your Home

To make matters worse, our homes and businesses in Southern California give Argentine ants moisture-rich shelter when inclement weather hits. Because it’s so dry here, Argentine ants will seek out shelter indoors to forage for water sources and food. Unfortunately, their survival is in part due to the sustenance our modern buildings provide.

Foraging for Food

Whether Argentine ants are indoors or outdoors, they’re constantly on the hunt for food sources to feed their ravenous colonies. Argentine ants like to eat different foods depending on their type:

• Queens/larvae: Protein-based foods like meat and grease.
• Workers: Sugar-based foods like fruit, syrup, and desserts.

Argentine ants specifically seek out a sweet substance called honeydew, secreted by tiny plant-destroying insects called aphids. To prevent Argentine ant issues, control your aphid population by reducing the number of plants in your garden and spraying existing plants with cold water, which is a known aphid deterrent.

Organized Attacks on Native Species

For hundreds of years, odorous house ants were the species that reigned supreme in California. But since the Argentine ant has made it to Southern California, native ants haven’t stood a chance. Argentine ants are an invasive species that can take on opponents up to 10 times their size—especially as an army of thousands come together as one.

Unfortunately, the results have been bad for our natural ecosystem. Without native ants to feed on, many animals—like the horned lizard—have lost some of their primary food sources. Local plants have lost many of their pollinators, as well.

How to Get Rid of Argentine Ants in Southern California

While Argentine ants may dominate native insect species in Southern California, you can combat these ants by preventing them from nesting or entering your home. Some prevention tactics include:

• Fix leaky faucets, as Argentine ants are constantly looking for water. Keep that in mind everywhere there may be water in your home.
• Clean up food or crumbs around your kitchen or house. Argentine scout ants are constantly looking for food to bring back to their queen.
• If you see a trail of ants in your home, wipe or spray it down with window cleaner that contains ammonia. This will kill the pheromone (scent) trail they are using to get back and forth and find their way around.
• Keep food—including dog food—inside tightly sealed containers.
• Empty your indoor trash cans often. Be sure to also rinse the inside of these cans so that any spills or crumbs are washed away.
• Get rid of any outdoor nesting spots like debris and mulch.
• Trim vegetation that brushes up against your building (otherwise, they may use it to get inside).
• Seal cracks in your building’s exterior that could serve as entry points.

As Argentine ants come indoors to source food and water, professionally implemented baits are an effective strategy to take out both queens and workers. With yearly ant control applications to your foundation from Lloyd Pest Control, you can keep these aggressive ants away from your home or business.

Lloyd Pest Control: Your Frontline Defense Against Ants in Southern California

As one of the most detested insects in Southern California, both by property owners and other insects, Argentine ants have a negative impact on our surrounding ecosystem. Although these ants don’t pose a physical threat to humans, their massive colonies can be attributed to the demise of species in our area—meaning controlling their numbers is more important than ever.

Here at Lloyd, we provide innovative, eco-friendly ant control solutions for your home, going above and beyond simple, self-applied bait treatments. We’ll also keep Argentine ants from getting indoors by strategically applying ant-repelling products, creating a natural barrier around the foundation of your home that keeps these invading insects far away all year long.

Send this invasive species running for its homeland. Contact Lloyd today to get rid of ants in Southern California!

The post Why Do I Have Ants in My Home? How Do I Get Rid of Ants? first appeared on Lloyd Pest Control.

What Makes Ants Superior by Nature

Ants are a superior pest by nature because, quite simply, there are so many of them. With impressive reproduction rates, their sheer numbers help them outnumber any other insect around. Many ant colonies house multiple queens who lay up to 1,000 eggs per day. It makes sense, then, that their populations come to dominate the areas in which they reside. Colonies can contain thousands or even millions of ants – numbers that most pests simply can’t match.

The second big reason ants have become the top pest problem is their social makeup. Other pests like spiders typically live in isolation, while ants are “social insects” that work together as one unit. It’s not uncommon to see ants protect one another or even give their lives for their colony. When starting a new nest, colonies send out scouts that look for a food source and often die in the process. They leave behind pheromones that trail all the way back to the nest. This provides the colony a direct route to a tasty meal.

The Southern California Ant Takeover

Ants have taken advantage of travel to make it to virtually every corner of the Earth. The more we become a globalized society, the easier it is for ants to reach commercial and travel hubs like Southern California via cargo ships, trucks, and even airplanes. It’s hard to imagine tiny ants surviving at 30,000 feet, but it’s indeed possible. In our region, there are two foreign species – often called “tramp ants” – that have quickly taken over: Argentine ants and red imported fire ants.

Rather than the invading ants having to adjust to new environments, we’ve already done the work for them, adjusting ourselves with green lawns, food-filled buildings, and interiors with plenty of hiding places. Southern California used to be full of odorous house ants and harvester ants, but now sees Argentine ants outcompete them in crowded cities while red imported fire ants have come to dominate the desert.

In the City: Argentine Ants

Argentine ants may not sting like fire ants, but they make up for it with their overall dominance as a species. The reason they’ve replaced many native ants in our region is because:

• They’re prolific reproducers – Argentine ants are set up to outnumber other ants, with more queens per colony and, thus, more offspring. They take the term “strength in numbers” to a whole new level, often winning physical battles, too.
• They’re not aggressive toward their own – Unlike other ants, Argentine ant colonies work together, often joining forces in one “supercolony.” It’s even rumored that there’s an Argentine supercolony in Southern California.

At Lloyd Pest Control, nearly 95 percent of ant infestations we deal with in the city involve the Argentine species. They’re attracted to overwatered lawns and tropical plants, which offer an environment like their native Amazonian region of South America.

Argentine ants prefer to nest outdoors, looking for places in trees, soil, or under logs. From there, they then trek indoors in search of food, bringing it back to the nest with pheromone trails as their arsenal.

In the Desert: Red Imported Fire Ants

In the Southern California desert (notably, the area stretching from Palm Springs to Coachella), fire ants reign supreme. Two species call the desert home: the native fire ant and the invasive fire ant, also called the red imported fire ant.

Both species crave dry environments – hence, they’re both fond of the desert. But it’s the red imported fire ant that’s more concerning because it’s much more aggressive.

Red imported fire ants’ colonies, like Argentine ant colonies, are bigger than most ant colonies – with populations often numbering in the millions. They live underground, coming to the surface in search of nearby food sources.
Unlike Argentine ants, they spend all their time outdoors, seeking nearby insects, honeydew, and vegetables to satisfy their omnivorous appetite. Be wary of finding the ants near you – their large dirt mound nests are everywhere from backyards to parks to and baseball fields.

A good reason to be wary of fire ants is their stinging ability, which, added to their massive numbers, makes them a big health threat. Taking care of a nest sooner rather than later is key to avoiding a painful encounter.

If threatened, the ants will send out an alarm pheromone, quickly pouring out through the opening of their nest to attack you relentlessly. They don’t sting once, but over and over – there have been instances of people getting stung thousands of times. Ouch!

How to Fight Back Against Ants

While ants are the world’s number one pest nuisance for a reason, there are steps you can take to stop their takeover. To prevent Argentine ants from infesting, do the following:

• Take away the food sources by wiping up crumbs and keeping food in sealed containers.
• Make it harder for them to get indoors by sealing cracks and voids and keeping bushes and trees away from your structure.
• Prevent attracting them to your yard in the first place by not overwatering your lawn.

When it comes to fire ants, there’s not as much you can do to prevent infestations. Fortunately, they’re only found outdoors, so the best thing you can do is keep an eye out for their nests once they pop up. If you spot one on your property, the first thing you should do is call in the professionals for safe ant control.

Professional Ant Control in Southern California

At Lloyd Pest Control, we use two different methods for both Argentine and fire ants: insecticides (for smaller colonies) and baits (for larger colonies). Baits are taken back to the nest by workers, and within a few days, they take down an entire colony – including the queens. Contact us for thorough ant control in Southern California today.

The post How Ants Became Southern California’s Number One Nuisance Pest first appeared on Lloyd Pest Control.

Do Argentine Ants Sting?

In Southern California, the Argentine ant is the most common species. These are the super small fellas that enter our homes in search of food and water. Fortunately for us, they don’t sting.

Argentine ants are, however, relentless killers to other insects. Their organization, overpowering numbers, and ability to displace their enemies are the reasons that odorous house ants – once the dominant ant of our region – have become the minority here. Argentine ants will attack bees, wasps, and even birds, and they won’t stop until their adversary has fled or is destroyed. The one good thing about these ants is they will sometimes attack termite colonies in your home.

Do Fire Ants Sting?

Although they’re nowhere near as common as the Argentine ants, we still have to watch out for fire ants in our region. These guys do sting, and the reaction that results can be fairly painful – so much so, it’s comparable to a bee sting. A fire ant sting will swell, forming a blister within 8-24 hours. This is normal, and can be treated with ice, elevation, and a topical antihistamine. If you experience a more severe allergic reaction, contact emergency medical help.

Fire ants live mostly in small, inland colonies, and can be identified by their reddish-brown color. They don’t create entrances on the tops of their mounds, but enter colonies through the side or underground tunnels. If you find an anthill, do not poke or prod it, because fire ants will attack to protect their home, and they run fast. Unlike bees, fire ants can sting more than once (an even bigger reason to leave them to ant control professionals).

Ant Control to Prevent Stings Once and for All

Don’t let the worry of ant stings stress you out – get them (specifically, fire ants) eliminated before they create concerns for you and your family. Trust in Lloyd Pest Control as your dependable ant control solution in Southern California. We’ll eliminate your ant colony in full, keeping any worry of stings at bay.

The post Do Ants Sting? first appeared on Lloyd Pest Control.

This Labor Day you might find yourself with your feet up and the television on, what you won’t find is pests around your home taking it easy. Pests can invade your home any time of the year, they don’t take days off. The good news is that you can help keep your home pest-free with checks of your home on your own days off. With only a little time required, you can do your part to make your home unwelcome to creepy-crawly visitors.

One way to keep California pests out of your home is to make sure you don’t foster areas they’re attracted to in your home. This coming Labor Day is the perfect opportunity to do a check around your home and to make sure you’re not already infested, and to make sure you aren’t inadvertently welcoming pests.

Ants are often found in kitchens or anywhere in your home they can get to food. Keep your food in sealed packaging as much as possible, put food away after each meal and clean up any spills right away. Ants follow a scented trail left behind by other ants, so if you find an ant trail, spraying it with any cleaner that contains ammonia will destroy the path.

Bed bugs can be a frightening prospect in your home. Washing linens regularly and keeping your home clean can help prevent an infestation. However, if you find or suspect bed bugs in your home, it’s important to seek professional help immediately.

Rodents make homes in your walls and come out to get food. Keeping food in sealed packaging that can’t be bitten into will help keep rodents from being attracted to your home. If you use snap traps, set the trap perpendicular to the wall with the bait against the baseboard.

Spiders can be valuable outdoors to keep pests out of gardens, but inside they can be a nuisance. Spiders are attracted to moisture. When you check around your home, make sure there aren’t any pools of water sitting around. There is more likely to be moisture on the shady side of your house, so check there for spider webs. Make sure you and your family know poisonous spiders in your area and can identify them to stay safe.

Termites are wood-eaters. Make sure there are no woodpiles against your home or foundation to attract them. Termites can be deterred by painted wood, so check the exterior of your home for any paint on wood siding, window sills or shutters that’s cracked or peeling.

While the idea of pests invading your home can be scary, taking the time to check your home is a good step in pest management. Checking common pest areas like the kitchen or in dark, damp corners can help you identify infestations if you have them. By taking simple steps to keep your home clean and uninviting can help keep new pests from coming in.

Of course, identifying an infestation is only the first step. If you find California pests in or around your home, contact a reputable pest control business to help you with pest management and elimination. California pest control professionals can make sure any pests in your home are taken care of quickly and effectively. Take time this Labor Day to check your home for any infestations. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your home’s potential for infestation, contact Lloyd Pest Control today.

The post Pests Don’t Celebrate Labor Day: Check Your Home first appeared on Lloyd Pest Control.

Here at Lloyd Pest Control, we are always on the lookout for news and discussions about our favorite topic – pests! Recently, we came across a podcast that outlines the history of the Argentine Ant. We can thank a steamboat out of Buenos Aires in the 1890’s for transporting them to Louisiana and then the great advancement of cross-country trains to land them in California by 1907.

Argentine Ants are an invasive species. Their strategy is simple: kill anything that isn’t one of us. Argentine Ants have managed to do just that. The super colony they have created spans every continent except Antarctica.

During the podcast, David Howay, an ecologist and evolutionary biologist from UC San Diego takes you to a driveway in Escondido, California where he demonstrates the nasty and loyal habits of the Argentine Ant.

The post The Journey of Argentine Ants first appeared on Lloyd Pest Control.