Several types of ants are common to the Midwest: The Odorous House Ant, The Pavement Ant, The Black Carpenter Ant, and The Pharaoh Ant. The most likely perpetrator of household infestation in the St. Louis area is The Odorous House Ant.
Like Pavement Ants, they are black. But unlike Pavement Ants, who only come inside to forage for food, Odorous House Ants nest indoors, making them more difficult to control. One way to identify which of these two varieties you are dealing with is their odor when crushed. The Odorous House Ant emits an odor similar to that of coconut.
Although they prefer to feed on sweets, Odorous House Ants will also eat foods high in protein and grease, such as meat and cheese. Once they have found their way inside your home or business, most likely during rainy weather, they typically nest in wall voids, crevices around sinks or cupboards, and beneath floors.
Black Carpenter Ants are most commonly found around doors, decks, gutters and windows, where they hollow out areas in wood for nesting. Pharaoh Ants nest in any accessible space, like cabinets, wall voids, even food boxes. Their colonies have more than one queen, which means they can split into small groups and spread very quickly. This characteristic also makes professional eradication a must.
To rid your home or business of an ant infestation, we apply a low odor liquid chemical around the perimeter of the building. We treat both the interior and exterior walls, as well as the basement. We highly recommend a follow up treatment within 2 weeks, after which we offer a 90 day warranty.
The second application is priced at a lower rate than the initial application, and we will return at no cost if you continue to see ants. Occasionally we recommend an exterior power spray, depending on the severity and/or location of the source of your problem. Not only are power sprays extremely effective, they offer a preventative barrier for future infiltration.