Tag Archives: Ants

Keep Ants Out of Your Office this Summer

Is That an Ant Between Your Computer Keys? Here's How to Keep Ants Out of Your Office.
Is That an Ant Between Your Computer Keys? Here’s How to Keep Ants Out of Your Office.

Ants are common nuisance insects and NJ pest control experts know warmer spring weather means ants are likely to venture out into homes and offices. Luckily, however, with a few proactive steps you can prevent these pests from crawling across your floors and counters.

How to Prevent Unwelcome Insect Guests

Ants searching for food and water often infiltrate occupied spaces, and office kitchens are one of their favorites. They may also be found in bathroom spaces, basements, and near HVAC systems. You can keep ants away by limiting the attractiveness of these sites:

– Keep spills and crumbs contained.

– Store food in tightly-sealed containers.

– Regularly dispose of garbage.

– Seal cracks/holes on the building and around windows/doors.

– Ensure weather stripping is tightly fitted.

– Trim branches/shrubbery well away from the building structure.

– Call for professional help promptly if ants infiltrate the premises.

Know Trouble When You See It

Though most ants are simply bothersome, particularly Argentine ants, a few species of ants can pose a threat to the health of office workers, office property, and building structures, requiring prompt attention. These include:

– Odorous house ants, which can contaminate food sources with the germs and chemicals they emit.

– Fire ants, which inflict a painful sting. 

– Carpenter ants, which tunnel through wood, forming nests that damage building structures.

Ants taking over your office? Give them their marching orders with the help of the NJ pest control pros at Stern Environmentaltoday.

Ant Trivia – There’s More to Know About This Tiny Insect

Ants Survived Millions of Years, Leave Getting Rid of Them to Professionals
Ants Survived Millions of Years, Leave Getting Rid of Them to Professionals.

Having lived on this planet for over 100 million years, ants have a long history of being survivors. These tiny insects walked alongside dinosaurs, which is a survival feat of its own.

Tiny Trivia Tidbits

If you’ve ever taken a moment to observe an ant colony, it is impressive. These small but powerful insects waste no time or energy in completing whatever task they’ve been assigned. They work, build, farm, take care of their young, take out the garbage from nests, guard the queen, and guard their nests without complaining, quitting, or going on strike.

Ants come in a variety of colors including brown, black, orange, yellow, purple, green, and blue, which allows them to blend in with their surroundings. They range in size, with the carpenter ant being the largest as it can grow to one-inch in length.

There are more than 10,000 known ant species in the world. They are related to bees and wasps and they have the largest brain in the insect kingdom. Their lifespan averages 45-60 days.

While most ants just go about their business setting up housekeeping in trees, in mounds, or underground, carpenter ants reside in wood and are known to be destructive to buildings, which is why an ant exterminator is necessary.

If you’re dealing with an ant intrusion, contact Stern Environmental and be ant-free by scheduling a professional ant exterminator to inspect and treat your home.

They Call Them “Velvet Ants” But They’re Really Wasps

Ant or Wasp?
Ant or Wasp?

Don’t let the name “Velvet Ants” fool you. While they may have some of the characteristics of an ant in color and size, in actuality, they belong to the Mutillidae (wasp) family.

About Velvet Ants

The female is especially ant-like due to her velvety exterior, which has a furry texture. Most are black or brown, like ants, and may be marked with red, orange, or yellow rings. While females are wingless, males do have wings and look more like wasps. Other species are known for their excruciating sting and some are capable of making a squeaking sound.

Studies on velvet ants show the insects are prone to attacking flies and beetles. Females spend much of their time hunting wasps and bees in their ground nests where she’ll lay eggs inside wasp or bee pupa. When the young wasps hatch, they feed on the pupa. Velvet ants produce young once a year.

Their stings are very painful and may cause a rash or an allergic reaction.

Velvet ants are difficult to control, especially if attempting to do it on your own. For the best results in NJ wasp abatement, you need a professional pest control service.

NJ wasp abatement is one of the services we handle at Stern Environmental Group. If you’re experiencing problems with velvet ants, let our experienced staff take care of the problem safely. Call us today to schedule a free home inspection.

Quirky Weather Responsible for Summer Ant Problems

Ants are on the move in New York City and northern New Jersey. These pesky insects are invading apartment buildings, office buildings, restaurants and other commercial establishments at alarming numbers this summer. If your business has been the victim of marauding ants, you are not alone. Summer ant infestations are approaching record levels from the East Coast through the Midwest.

Commercial ant control experts say the quirky weather has created ideal living conditions for ant colonies. Last summer’s drought allowed ant colonies to flourish. The floods that usually wash away and drown enough ant eggs to keep colony populations under control never materialized. The warm winter exacerbated the problem, allowing ant colonies to remain more active that usual during the winter months and protecting larvae from exposure to killing temperatures. As a result, record numbers of eggs hatched this spring, swelling ant populations. The rainy spring only made life easier for New York and New Jersey ant species. Rain-softened soil has made burrowing easier, encouraging underground ant colonies to grow, expand their territory and spread.

Many NYC and NJ businesses and apartment buildings that have always been ant-free are being overrun by these annoying insects this summer. And it is more common than ever for ant exterminators to find multiple infestation sites on the same property. Stop ants dead; call Stern’s commercial ant extermination experts today.

Pharaoh Ants Spread Disease in Hospitals, Nursing Homes

Most ant species active in New York City and northern New Jersey are classified as nuisance pests. Infestations can upset employees and customers and contaminate food supplies in kitchens and restaurants, but most NJ ants pose no serious threat to human life, with one notable exception. Pharaoh ants carry and spread more than a dozen dangerous bacteria and pathogens, including Staphylococcus, Salmonella, Pseudomonas, Streptococcus and Clostridium.

Pharaoh ant infestations are common in hospitals and nursing homes where they can spread infection between patients. Just 1/16th inch long, these tiny ants are pale yellow to red and translucent, making them extremely difficult to see. In hospital settings pharaoh ants are known to feed on wound dressings and will even crawl in and out of open wounds, spreading infection between patients.

Pharaoh ant colonies expand by budding, allowing infestations to grow exponentially. Multiple colonies with hundreds of queens can number in the hundreds of thousands and consume vast quantities of food. Their large colony size makes pharaoh ants a significant problem if they infest a grocery, school or restaurant. These ants prefer to feed on sweets such as fruit juices, syrups, soft drinks and cakes; but they are omnivores and will also devour greasy and fatty foods, breads and dead insects.

A Pharaoh ant infestation can be dangerous and should be immediately addressed by experienced commercial pest control professionals.