Ants are one of the most annoying pests to find in your house. Ants are nuisance pests through and through. Though some ants may be able to pinch you, they are rather harmless to the physical health of your family, however, your mental health might suffer if you have an infestation. There are varieties of ants that are poisonous and dangerous, but they are not found in the United States, so the varieties you get in your home seem purely bent on driving you absolutely crazy. Because they are little, they can get into cracks and crevices that are minuscule when they are trying to find a way into your home. While these species of infesting ants may not be dangerous to your health, ants can cause damage to your home. Carpenter ants, for instance, chew paths through wooden structures in your home creating a lot of disaster. Professional ant control is a must. These infestations will not go away on their own.
But won’t the cold weather kill off the ants?
While the cold weather of changing seasons causes some varieties of insects to die, ants are not among them. Ants have a surprisingly long lifespan. Depending on the species, they can live anywhere from 2-15 years. Queen ants specifically, can live 10-30 years. They would not be able to live this long if they did not have ways of adapting to the cold. Most ant species gear up for the winter by eating extra food and putting on extra stores of fat to last them through the cold months. When the temperature falls, their bodies respond to the atmospheric pressure, dropping their core temperatures which in turn makes them sluggish and slow. They go into hibernation mode. They hide deep in the soil or under tree bark where the temperature is slightly warmer. If a colony of ants has invaded your house however, you may notice fewer ants as their colony is outside, but don’t get your hopes up, they’ll be back with more energy in the spring.
Do carpenter ants die in the winter?
You might have noticed carpenter ants around your home during the summer but as the cold weather came, you saw less and less of them. Maybe you even thought the cold weather killed them off. Sadly, this is not so. Carpenter ants are a little different from pharaoh ants, sugar, odorous ants and other varieties. As cold weather approaches, the colony of carpenter ants finds a warmer place to hide and often this place is within the warmth of your lovely, heated walls. They bask in the insulated protection your home provides and within your walls, they set up camp. The worker ants surround the queen, making sure she is comfortable. She can live up to 30 years! That infestation will never go away.
Carpenter ant infestations cost you money
Oh, it’s just ants. They won’t hurt you. They just “bug” you. Maybe this is the case with little sugar ants but not with carpenter ants. It is estimated that a carpenter ant infestation within your walls does up to $17 worth of damage PER DAY! You let an infestation like that sit for months or years and by the time you get around to getting rid of them, not only is their colony growing but they are destroying your home. The damage they produce can be catastrophic if left unchecked. It’s important to not confuse carpenter ant damage with termite damage. Termites actually ingest the wood as they eat it where carpenter ants actually shred it to make nests for their homes. Protect your home with professional ant control year round.
Pointe Pest Control gets rid ant infestations fast
Our technicians are experienced with ant infestations of all kinds and know the first signs of a carpenter ant infestations. These ants will not die off in the winter and even though you might not see them, we know how to spot them. The warmth your home emits is attractive to pests of all kinds so schedule routine pest infestations to keep your home free of all pests, especially in the winter. Your home and family are worth it.
