Ants
The Temecula/Murrieta area is particularly well-suited to ants. These tiny pests can be a problem throughout the year and their populations increase during the spring and summer seasons. To rid your home of these intruders, Vineyard Valley Pest Control uses methods that turn the ants’ natural trailing and communal living behavior against them.
Beware the Argentine Ants
Recently our region has been overrun by Argentine ants, which many area homeowners find in their kitchens and bathrooms. These ants thrive in temperate regions. To give you an idea of their resiliency, Argentine ants typically kill and displace our native ants which are 10 times larger in size!
How do they get inside?
Argentine ants sometimes enter homes by traveling on water pipes, wiring, and tree branches. Outside, they like to nest under potted plants, bricks, concrete slabs, and anything else that will offer protection and moisture.
What do they look like?
The Argentine ant is a small, shiny brown ant. The workers are about 1/12 to 1/8 inch long; the queens are larger, sometimes 1/4 inch in length. A single colony of these ants can have hundreds of queens and 10,000 workers; most yards in our area have a multitude of these colonies. Workers usually live about a month; the queens can live up to 10 years!
What do they eat?
Depending upon the season, these ants forage for food that contains sugar (in the warmer months) and food that contains protein (in the cooler months). They also are attracted to decaying organic matter, giving them the potential to carry and spread disease. Their vast numbers can make outdoor dining and recreation very unpleasant.